Shelter
by AznTigress
Summary: A curious young woman and her AI-imbued car encounter a mysterious ship that causes said car to suddenly sprout arms and legs. Things get more complicated when they become embroiled in the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was 9:00 AM by the time Zero clocked out of the retail store in which she worked as a part-time stocker. The sun was just getting up for the day as she walked over to her navy blue sedan that she took care to park under the tree in a particular direction to keep it in the shade. She gets into the driver's seat and sat there for a few minutes with a sigh.

Suddenly, a digital voice rings out from her dashboard. A male voice that was both calming yet annoying all at once.

"Time to fill up?" the voice asks eagerly.

"We haven't even used up a third of your tank this week, Midnight," responds Zero, taking out her paycheck.

"I just like being prepared," responded the voice. "That is what you programmed me for, isn't it?"

"I programmed you to help me keep track of maintenance on the car," Zero clarifies as she scans her paycheck to make sure there weren't any mistakes that would prevent her from cashing it in.

"Then why'd you give me an AI algorithm?" asks Midnight.

Zero falls quiet as she ponders the inquiry. It's been a year since her home was destroyed in a mysterious explosion. Since then, she's been literally living out of her car with naught more than a laptop and her external hard drive. The money she gets from her job is just enough to get her by since she doesn't have a home anymore, but the yearning for her room back still remains.

"You should already know the answer to that," answers the young woman.

She turns the car over and drives off into the freeway. Going nowhere in particular, she allows the road to take her wherever it went, eventually sending her into the more uninhabited parts of the area. As she drove, she spies a strange object in the distance and shifts gear to go towards it.

"What's up?" wonders Midnight.

"Curiosity," responds Zero.

"Heh, isn't that always the case?" retorts the voice.

The road beneath the car gradually changes from asphalt to dirt, causing pebbles and dust to spit out from under the tires. After some more time, the sedan came to a stop in front of a small gorge in which something very alien laid.

Zero emerges from the car and saunters over to the edge to get a better look. She takes out digital binoculars, which are linked to Midnight's systems.

"What is it?" asks Midnight as Zero zooms in through the binoculars to provide them both the same visuals.

"Looks like a spaceship," answers Zero nonchalantly.

"You know, humans usually would react a lot more emotionally at the sight of something like this," notes Midnight.

"Thought you would've realized by now that I'm not quite normal," counters Zero.

She begins to climb into the gorge carefully.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! What do you think you're doing?" exclaims Midnight.

"What does it look like? I'm going to investigate," responds Zero.

"Not without me you're not!" Midnight was starting to sound frantic.

Zero lets out an exasperated sigh and climbs back up, not realizing that she had caused the cliff to crumble a bit.

"And can you see any road around here that would lead down there?" She looks at the sedan with arms crossed.

"How about you get back in and look for a way for both of us to get down?" Midnight reasons.

Zero throws up her hands and annoyingly stomps back to the car and gets into the driver's seat, tossing the binoculars into the passenger side.

"Last I checked, you don't have arms and legs," she retorts in frustration as she turns the car over and eases it extremely close to the edge.

"What are you doing? You trying to get us both scrapped!" exclaims the sedan.

"I'm showing you there's NO ROADS to get down there!" responds Zero. "Just look with your cameras!"

"Okay, okay, I get your point!" yells the sedan. "Just back us away from the cliff!"

But it was too late as the cliff fully crumbles beneath the car, sending it sliding down into the gorge.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Ugh…"

Zero groans as she pushes herself off the steering wheel where a now deflated airbag laid.

"Zero! Are you alright?" Midnight's voice shouts frantically from the dashboard.

"I should be asking _you_ that," responds the young woman.

She brushes back her bangs and dusts off her tied back black hair. Looking around her, she sees that the car had slid right into the derelict ship and crashed into the half-opened hatch. Fortunately she had her seatbelt on and the airbags deployed to leave her with nothing more than bruises and scratches. She glances behind her and saw that her laptop had slipped onto the floor where it laid seemingly unharmed. She unbuckles herself from the driver's seat and crawls into the backseat to pick up the laptop. Anxiously, she opens the laptop up to find that it still functions and lets out a sigh of relief.

"My axles are surely damaged to the point that I won't be able to run straight," reports Midnight. "Engine is somewhat intact, but my hood and bumper are crumpled paper at this point. I would have to be repaired significantly to even function."

"No other choice but to move," concludes Zero, clutching her laptop close.

She grabs her messenger bag which fortunately still contained her external hard drive in one piece. With her laptop booted up, she proceeds to link it to the dashboard to download Midnight's data. Once finished, her car no longer spoke and Midnight's voice started to emit from her laptop instead.

"I'm going to miss my old body," asserts the AI.

"Dunno if I can get a better one since this car was a gift," says Zero as memories of a birthday flashed quickly through her mind.

Holding back tears, she emerges from the car with messenger bag on her shoulder and her laptop in her hands. Taking a deep breath, she looks up at the alien ship and slowly steps into it.

Zero carefully listens for signs of life as she enters the ship. Torn up cables hung from the ceiling and flickering lights briefly illuminated the corridor. She eventually comes across a door with a panel on the right side. With a touch of the button, the door eerily slides open, revealing a dim chamber on the other side. What looked to be a console stood in the middle of the room and behind it were alien humanoid figures that showed no signs of life. After carefully observing the figures for any movement, Zero comes to the conclusion that they weren't alive and slowly makes her way into the room.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Zero," Midnight's voice sounds from her laptop.

"Doesn't look like anyone's here," responds the young woman. "Or someone would've already come by now."

The console in the middle of the room was rather tall, indicating that the occupants of the craft were rather giant. Zero spies a cable drooping down from the console to the ground and uses it to climb up onto the console's surface, which had some sort of transparent screens atop it, resembling a computer. She takes out her laptop to give Midnight a look through the webcam.

"It looks like it could still be functional," thought the AI. "Although the ports look rather large. I don't think we'll be able to connect to it with what we have."

Zero carefully lays down her laptop onto a flat surface and goes to investigate the screens. She stares at the lifeless figures on the other side and notes that they look very robotic and generic.

"What do you think of those things over there?" she asks Midnight. "Feels like this is a cloning room or something."

Suddenly, the screens flicker on and the sounds of whirring machinery echoes throughout the chamber. Startled, Zero falls back and scrambles over to her laptop. She tries to lift it up, but it seemed like it had gotten stuck to the panel.

"Mid!" she calls out, frantically trying to remove the laptop. "Are you still there?"

"Yes, I am!" responds the AI. "I've somehow connected to the ship's network through this surface you set me down on."

"Be careful, the data it has could corrupt ours," warns Zero.

"I don't know how, but I'm able to translate some of this information," reports Midnight. "Something about… Cybertron? Autobots? Decepticons? How strange."

Just then, one of the robotic figures begins to illuminate.

"Mid, something's happening to one of the figures," alerts Zero, feeling very afraid.

"I think I found something related to them," responds the AI. "I'm going to take a closer look."

The young woman watches as the system does something to the robot, as if it's loading data into it.

"No, abort Mid!" exclaims Zero as she tries to free her laptop from the console. "You're causing one of the figures to wake up and I don't think it'll appreciate us messing around with its network!"

"There's… a light…" responds the AI.

"Midnight! Don't go to it!" Zero cries out as she strains to pull her laptop away. "We don't know what it is!"

The robot's eyes light up and it begins to move its arms and then its legs. Zero could only watch as it starts to approach her slowly. At long last, the young woman manages to dislodge her laptop from the panel and quickly shoves it into her bag as she ran towards the cable. She slides down quickly, ignoring the burning pain in her hands from the friction and heads for the door. Her foot catches onto a crevice in the floor and she's sent falling down. Looking back, she sees the robot picking up speed. She quickly gets up and scrambles out the door, her shoes sliding onto the smooth floor of the corridor as she went. But the robot's large stride allows it to easily catch up to her and, before long, it has her cornered.

"I didn't mean to intrude!" Zero cries out as she crouches down. "Please don't kill me!"

The robot reaches for her with one arm and stops just a couple of meters from her.

"Ze… ro…"

The young woman stops shaking in fear and hesitantly looks up at the robot.

"Mid… night…?" she utters in shock.

The giant robot kneels down in front of her and smiles. This causes her to take out her laptop and open it up.

"Mid, can you hear me?" she speaks into the laptop's microphone.

No response. She looks through her data to find that all of Midnight's files were gone.

"I'm… not there… anymore…" says the robot, as if it's trying to work its voice box.

Zero looks back up at the robot. "What did you do?"

"I don't know," responds the robot, who is now Midnight. "I just… saw a light and went towards it. The next thing I knew, I wasn't looking at you… through the laptop's webcam anymore. I was looking at you… through the other side of the screens."

"This… this is unreal…" exclaims the young woman in awe. "How could this happen?"

"I guess… this means… I have arms… and legs… now…" says Midnight, a hint of elation in his voice.

"Don't be so excited just yet," warns Zero in a foreboding manner. "This just makes things complicated."

"What do you mean?" asks Midnight.

"Mid, you don't think walking out in the open in your new body is a good idea, do you?" clarifies the young woman. "You're a giant… robot! I can't exactly have you taking me to work like this. Someone will call the cops, or the army!"

"I think… I see what you mean," Midnight responds as he tests out his hands.

Together, the both of them walk towards the ship's hatch where Zero originally entered. Looking out, it was very much the middle of the day with the sun high up in the sky. If Midnight were to walk out into the open, someone was bound to see him.

"Stay in there," says Zero. "I'll just run to the car to grab the rest of my stuff."

Midnight nods and watches as the young woman cautiously dashes over to her soon-to-be-abandoned dark blue sedan. He looks longingly at the vehicle, which had been his body since Zero brought him into existence years ago. He wishes he could be a sedan again, taking Zero to wherever she needed to go without worry. So lost in nostalgia was he that he failed to notice that his line of vision was sinking downward. Before long, he sees Zero coming back towards him only to stop in her tracks with a look of astonishment.

"What?" exclaims Midnight.

"… How'd you do that?" asks Zero as she gets closer.

"Do what?"

"Become a car."

Midnight becomes utterly confused. "What do you mean? I'm a robot no—"

He tries to lift up his hands to find that he didn't have hands anymore. He felt restricted, yet able to move forward and backward much more quickly than he did with legs. Zero takes out a mirror and shows him that he had indeed become a dark blue sedan.

"What… what's going on?" he exclaims in surprise.

He wishes to have arms and legs again and watches through Zero's mirror as his body changed back into a humanoid robot, now with some modifications that showed elements of the dark blue sedan he once was.

"You can transform," utters Zero. "You're a transformer."

"What strange alien technology is this?" exclaims Midnight, testing out his newfound ability to switch between his robot form and his car form.

"All I know is…" begins Zero. "This is going to solve our current problem of getting out of here."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Midnight goes into his robot form to carry Zero out of the crater before quickly turning into car form for her to get in. They were on the highway soon enough, speeding farther away from the city to an even more remote area to figure out what their next move is. Obviously they were worried about how to refuel Midnight, since it was highly unlikely that he could continue to subsist on gasoline with his new body. Another concern arose of where the inhabitants of that ship could be if they possess the ability to transform into vehicles to hide in plain sight. The ship was small and, judging from Midnight's size, couldn't have fit any more than three individuals at most.

"I wonder why no one has discovered that ship yet," notes Midnight. "Surely we weren't the first ones to stumble upon it."

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about all this," responds Zero. "There were weapons on that ship. That's a warship."

"Invaders from another planet," concludes Midnight. "But with all their technology, why bother coming to Earth? Nothing invented has come close to this transforming thing."

Without a word, Zero flips open her laptop and starts documenting their findings and transfers the data to her external hard drive.

"Maybe… technology isn't what they're here for…" she asserts.

"But if they're not here for technology, what does Earth have that they could possibly want?" responds Midnight.

Suddenly, a loud explosion shakes the ground and Midnight and Zero immediately run to hide behind a giant rock. A stampede of giant footsteps rumbles behind them and they carefully peer around the rock to see an extraordinary sight: two groups of giant robots similar to Midnight are shooting and fighting each other. In a panic, Midnight grabs Zero and rushes out of there. They can hear the sound of something pursuing them and Midnight struggles to run faster on his newfound feet.

"They're getting closer!" exclaims Zero, holding on to the giant robot as hard as she could.

As if things weren't getting worse for them, Midnight and Zero run right onto the edge of a cliff. Midnight manages to stop in time and backs away from the cliff quickly, holding on to Zero to make sure she was still on him. They turn around to find themselves face to face with a black and violet robot with a sinister red visor as eyes.

"I hope your curiosity was worth it," retorts Midnight nervously.

"Do you really have to bring that up now?" responds Zero, equally anxious.

The sinister robot aims its gun cannon at the two of them and Zero closes her eyes, expecting the end for both of them. Midnight, wanting more than anything to protect the young woman from harm, instinctively holds up his arm at the other robot. The next thing he knew, a cannon emerges from his forearm and a blue beam shoots out of it and hits dead on the other robot's chest. The robot screeches horribly, inciting Midnight to shoot it again with another blue beam. This time the robot's head was blown off, destroying it outright. Zero opens her eyes to see the cannon on Midnight's arms and her eyes open wide in alarm.

"Since when did you have weapons?" she asks him.

"Since now, I guess," answers Midnight.

The cannon retracts back into his forearm as he pulls it back. It was too soon for comfort as another giant robot appears, except this one was a deep yellow instead. Midnight pulls out his cannon again and aims it at the robot, which only looked on in curiosity.

"Stay back!" warns Midnight. "I-I know how to use this!"

The yellow robot simply beeps and buzzes back in response, confusing both Midnight and Zero.

"It's not trying to kill us?" utters Zero.

Another giant robot appears before them, much bigger than the yellow robot. This one had a blue and red color scheme and seemed to be of higher rank than the yellow robot. Cautiously, Midnight aims his cannon at this new robot, believing it to be a much bigger threat.

"You have nothing to fear, we are Autobots," assures the red and blue robot. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

"Autobots?" reiterates Midnight. "That's what the ship told me. And I'm guessing the robot I killed was a Decepticon?"

The yellow robot beeps in response, as if to confirm Midnight's supposition.

"Well, how do we know _you're_ not a Decepticon?" asserts Zero.

"Decepticons will never partner up with humans," replies the one who called himself Optimus Prime. "They come here to mine Energon and would stop at nothing to obtain it, even if it means destroying humans in the process."

"Energon, Autobots, Decepticons… I don't understand any of this," responds Midnight, his cannon still aimed at them.

"Please, come with us," says Optimus. "You'll be safe in our base."

Midnight was hesitant until Zero speaks up.

"Let's go with them, Mid," she suggests. "I don't sense bad intentions from them."

"If you say so," responds Midnight, withdrawing his cannon into his forearm.

"Ratchet, activate the GroundBridge," exclaims Optimus, seemingly talking to no one in particular.

Midnight and Zero watched as a bright colorful portal appears before them. Optimus and the yellow robot enter the portal to show that it was safe before Midnight follows in after them with Zero still on his shoulder.

When they emerge on the other side of the portal, they were met with even more robots that were just as friendly as the yellow robot.

"What is this, Optimus?" asks the orange robot. "You found another Autobot?"

"Bumblebee found them first," answers Optimus, referring to the yellow robot. "As for being Autobot, I'm not quite sure."

"Are you saying you just dragged a Decepticon into the base?" exclaims the slim blue robot.

"Optimus would not be so foolish as to do that, Arcee," retorts the orange robot.

"He doesn't have an Autobot or Decepticon insignia on him," notes the green bulky robot.

"Just because I look like one of you, that doesn't mean I am," asserts Midnight firmly, feeling a little annoyed by the discourse.

"Well, you're either an Autobot or a Decepticon since you're obviously not an Insecticon," adds the white, grey, and blue robot who gives off the air of being a newbie.

"Look, I'm not an Autobot or a Decepticon," affirms Midnight. "I'm me."

"That doesn't really give us much comfort," responds the one known as Arcee. "You could be a double agent for all we know."

"But he does have a human partner," points out the green bulky robot.

The yellow robot known as Bumblebee starts beeping to his comrades.

"Took down a Decepticon, did he?" translates the green bulky robot. "That settles it for me. The name's Bulkhead." He limps up to shake Midnight's hand.

One by one, the Autobots introduce themselves before allowing Midnight and Zero to introduce each other back.

"So you created Midnight?" reiterates Ratchet. "This is unheard of, if not impossible."

"Midnight's been my car for years," says Zero. "He just… has arms and legs now."

"A bot that was born on Earth instead of Cybertron," affirms Ratchet. "Who would've thought. It's certainly a first."

"The way you described the ship you found indicates that it's Decepticon," asserts Bulkhead. "But, you're no Decepticon for sure."

"Look, whatever war you've got with the Decepticons or Autobots or whatever, we want no part of it," declares Midnight. "All I want is to protect Zero."

"Mid…" exclaims the young woman.

"Not with that attitude you won't," responds Arcee. "Whether you like it or not, you're a bot like us and you're going to have to pick sides. The Decepticons won't care if you've decided to be neutral. If you're not with them, they'll turn you into scrap regardless."

"If you stick with us, we'll show you how to fight," speaks up Smokescreen. "You've got all these weapons now, but no training. Might as well learn how to use them."

"I'll let you guys train me, but I will not pick any side in this war," says Midnight. "I refuse to put Zero into any more danger than she already has."

"That is your choice," responds Optimus. "We will not force you one way or another. However, we do ask that you not reveal the location of our base to anyone."

"When I said I'm staying neutral, I mean it," asserts Midnight. "And that includes helping out either side."

"You can't—" began Arcee until Optimus puts a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll train you to use your weapons," offers the Autobot leader. "And you are free to do whatever you will with what we teach you."

Arcee looks at Optimus disapprovingly before stomping off.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"So this is where you found the ship?"

Ratchet points out a set of coordinates on the GroundBridge's console screen.

"Yeah, that looks like it," affirms Zero.

"Oh, we took care of those Decepticons a long time ago," speaks up Bulkhead as he approaches them. "Guess we should've vaporized the ship as well."

"Well, it wasn't too bad of a decision to leave it there…" utters Zero, scratching the back of her head. "I mean, it gave Midnight the body he always wanted."

Just then, Midnight comes walking by and narrows his eyes at the two Autobots.

"Zero, we need to talk," he turns his attention to the young woman.

"Sure thing," responds Zero, walking down to join the bot.

Ratchet and Bulkhead look on as the two of them walk out of sight.

"So what do you make of 'em, doc?" wonders Bulkhead as he crosses his arms.

"I am most curious as to how Zero managed to bring Midnight into existence as an Earth-born Cybertronian," responds Ratchet. "Decepticons may have cloning tech, but they most certainly can't just build brand new bots out of nowhere."

"And Zero said she created Midnight from a simple AI program," reiterates Bulkhead. "Just weird all around."

"Well, I don't foresee Midnight being any different from us in terms of biology," notes Ratchet. "His only difference is being born on Earth instead of Cybertron. I suppose it gives us a unique insight in that regard."

"Which is what I'm worried about."

Ratchet and Bulkhead turn to see Arcee approaching them.

"Since he was born on Earth, Midnight has no connection to Cybertron as a home," continues the female Autobot. "And that could jeopardize our mission."

"He's not going out of his way to sabotage us either," adds Bulkhead. "You heard what the guy said. He has no allegiance to either us or the Decepticons."

"But that doesn't mean he won't change his mind later on," counters Arcee.

"All the more reason we should do all we can to not antagonize him," speaks up Ratchet. "He seems to be very protective of Zero, so as long as we don't do anything to trigger him, he won't think much of going against us."

* * *

"Mid, is everything okay?"

Zero looks on her formerly car-only companion as they sat together alone in another part of the Autobots' base.

"Investigating that ship was a mistake," utters Midnight. "We should've just stayed on the road."

"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't," replies Zero. "I couldn't even program you to control the car itself. But now you can do so much more. Not only can you drive the car, but you have an alternative body to use."

"At least back then, we weren't nearly as in much danger as we are now," responds the bot.

"What's done is done, Mid," says Zero, standing up to face Midnight. "I think we should help the Autobots."

"Out of the question," counters Midnight. "Did you not see the perilous situation we were in earlier today? I'm not going to allow you to be put at risk just because I've got this new body."

"Mid… you've changed," says Zero, a hint of sadness in her voice. "You weren't nearly this protective of me back when you were just my car."

"I was limited by circumstance," responds Midnight. "You were in control back then since I was only an AI. But now…"

Midnight stands up straight and looks down at the young woman. "Now… I can do so much more. As you said."

"Then join the Autobots," pleads Zero. "They're trying to protect the planet, so you should help them. Earth is our home."

"My only concern is your safety," asserts the bot. "We can make our home wherever we want. We'll find a way to survive even if we lose Earth."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asks Zero.

They suddenly hear the sound of footsteps and end their conversation right then and there. Smokescreen cracks a smile as he enters the room.

"So…" he begins. "Ready for your training?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"So you guys were all born and raised on Cybertron?" asks Zero.

"Yeah, Cyberton is the birthplace of all of us, Autobots and Decepticons alike," answers Smokescreen. "Except for Midnight, I guess."

Midnight simply looks on with interest. "And every Autobot and Decepticon has a spark that gives them life?"

"Pretty much," continues Smokescreen. "All sparks come from Primus and when we all pass on, our sparks will return to Primus to be reborn anew."

"And Primus's body is what formed Cybertron," repeats Zero. "Ratchet told me that Unicron is our planet's core."

"Oh really?" exclaims Smokescreen in astonishment. "That's unfortunate."

"But he and the others got rid of Unicron, so our planet's okay," adds Zero.

"And I need Energon to continue functioning," notes Midnight.

"Yeah," affirms Smokescreen. "It's basically our food source. If we go on too long without replenishing Energon, we could rust away."

"Sounds simple enough," says Zero. "Where can we get it?"

"Well, we have to mine for Energon," begins Smokescreen. "And then we have to refine it in order to consume it via injections. Energon is what makes up our blood, in a matter of speaking, and it's also what powers our weapons. That's why Megatron and the Decepticons are constantly looking for new sources of it. During the war, Energon stores were hidden off world, which explains why they're found here."

"So it was inevitable for your people to come to our planet," concludes Midnight.

"Hey, what do you mean 'your people'?" exclaims Smokescreen. "You're a bot, too."

"Of Earth, _not_ Cybertron," repeats Midnight. "And you will do well to remember that."

"What's going on here?"

Arcee walks in just in time to defuse anything from escalating.

"Nothing much, just teaching Midnight and Zero here about what it means to be a Cybertronian," answers Smokescreen, his optics still narrowed at Midnight.

"Smoke, you should go join the others," suggests the female Autobot. "I'll take it from here."

"But I volunteered to train him and we haven't even started yet," argues Smokescreen.

"Training? You barely completed yours," counters Arcee.

"Hey, I was trained by the Cybertron Elite Guard," emphasizes Smokescreen.

"And you still need more combat experience regardless," responds Arcee. She then grabs him and pulls him in closer so that the others wouldn't hear. "Smoke, I really need you to leave _now_. This is outside your expertise."

"Fine, fine," Smokescreen sighs back in frustration. He turns back to Midnight and Zero. "Guess I'll see you guys around."

With that, he leaves Arcee to Midnight's training. She motions Midnight and Zero to follower back to where the GroundBridge console is.

"I'll tell Ratchet to GroundBridge us to a remote location so we can practice," suggests the female Autobot.

"And Zero is coming with us, correct?" asserts Midnight.

"I think she will be much safer staying here in the base," says Arcee.

"I'm not going anywhere without Zero," affirms the bot. "No offense, but I don't exactly trust her safety with you people."

Arcee's patience with the newborn bot was starting to run thin, but she forces herself to deal with it for the sake of the team.

"Whatever you say," she responds as calmly as possible.

Once they got to the GroundBridge sector, three teenagers were seen hanging around the console.

"Hey Arcee!" greeted what looked to be the oldest of the teenagers. "Who's the new guy and girl?"

Arcee turns to introduce them to Midnight and Zero.

"Midnight, Zero, these are our human charges," she begins. "Jack, Miko, and Rafael."

"Finally, another girl joins the team!" exclaims Miko.

Midnight turns to Arcee. "You protect… all three of them?"

"Yes, it's part of our job since their knowledge of us puts them in danger," explains the female Autobot.

Midnight contemplates on this for some time before he finally makes a decision.

"Allright, Zero will stay at the base," he says hesitantly. "But if anything happens to her…"

"She'll be fine," asserts Ratchet. "I'm almost always here at the base to direct the GroundBridge."

"Ratchet, I need a remote area to train Midnight," Arcee tells the medic.

"I know just the place," says Ratchet. "It's far away from any human structures as well as any Energon sources. No Decepticon should bother you."

"Thanks," responds Arcee.

Ratchet fires up the GroundBridge and Arcee and Midnight begin walking through it. Midnight takes one last look at Zero before finally following after the female Autobot. Once they were gone, Rafael bounds up to Zero.

"So…" he begins. "Is your name really Zero?"

"It is now," responds the young woman.

"Wait, so what is your real name?" wonders Miko. "You have a family, don't you?"

"I _had_ one," says Zero solemnly, lowering her head. "Not anymore."

Jack, Miko, and Rafael fall silent and look at one another.

"Hey, how about you tell us how you met Midnight?" spoke up Jack, trying to change the subject. "It must've been pretty cool."

"Actually, I created him," answers Zero.

"No way! Really?" exclaims Miko. "That's so cool! You gotta tell us all about it!"

* * *

Arcee grunts as Midnight lands yet another hit on her.

"Heh, you're not too bad," she admits, feeling impressed by the bot's moves.

"Zero has been training in the martial arts for years," explains Midnight. "I merely observed her."

"Guess that means I don't have to teach you much, then," concludes Arcee. "You just need combat practice like Smoke."

"I hope it won't ever come to that, seeing as I don't plan on taking part in your war," says Midnight. "Regardless, I thank you for taking the time to spar with me."

"Tell me, Midnight," begins Arcee. "Why are you so against us? We haven't done anything to hurt you or Zero."

"I'm against conflict," clarifies Midnight. "You Cybertronians are no different from the humans on this planet. Constantly fighting wars for meaningless reasons. Zero lost her family because of it."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Arcee gives her condolences.

"I'm all she has left, and she's everything to me," continues Midnight. "That's why I cannot afford to be involved in your war."

"We're doing all we can to minimize human casualties," asserts Arcee. "But we can't do that without more help. You've seen the Decepticons. They outnumber us by so much. We've been lucky to have survived for this long."

"Zero will be devastated if anything happens to me," says Midnight. "I refuse to allow her to end up alone."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** If you're wondering where in the _Transformers: Prime_ timeline this story lies, it's sometime after Smokescreen joins the crew, but before they go hunting down the Omega Keys.

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Midnight and Zero found themselves back in the Autobots' base the next day. Optimus Prime showed great interest in the data Zero has collected over the years, which encompassed not only human history, but evidences of Autobot and Decepticon presence on the planet. Midnight was feeling like a third wheel seeing them converse about history, so he went off on his own and comes across Ratchet working on something.

"What seems to be troubling you?" wonders the medic, still tinkering away.

"Nothing," responds Midnight rather curtly.

"Doesn't sound like nothing," notes Ratchet.

"They're just talking about history and relics," Midnight answers quickly.

"Who?"

"Zero and Optimus."

A smile appears on Ratchet's face. "That's to be expected. Optimus wasn't always the leader of the Autobots. At one point, he was nothing more than a simple clerk working at our Hall of Records."

"Interesting," says Midnight. "How'd he go from clerk to military leader?"

Ratchet regales the tale of how record clerk Orion Pax became Autobot leader Optimus Prime and explains the significance of his adoption of the Prime name.

"I see," begins Midnight. "You're all here because Cybertron is dead."

"Believe me, we want nothing more than to revive Cybertron and go home to leave your planet alone," asserts Ratchet. "But due to our unfortunate circumstances, Earth is our home for now."

"Your world was much more technologically advanced than Earth," points out Midnight. "And this war of yours tore it apart. What chance does Earth have to withstand the magnitude of your war on its surface?"

"You think we don't know that?" Ratchet counters back. "That is why Optimus has strict rules for us here. Along with our liaison with the US government, we do everything we can to prevent human casualties."

"But you can't prevent casualties, only minimize them," asserts Midnight.

"It's better than standing by and letting the body count go up even more," grumbles Ratchet.

Midnight narrows his optics and goes back to where Zero and Optimus were. As he arrived, Zero took note of him and waves him over. Suddenly, the console shows a blip on the transparent screen and foreboding look overcomes Optimus.

"A Decepticon," he utters grimly.

Ratchet rushes over to analyze the data.

"I guess we should take our leave," says Midnight as the other Autobots convene near the GroundBridge. "Thanks for everything. Maybe we'll be in touch later."

"You're still not going to join us?" asks Bulkhead.

"This isn't our fight," repeats Midnight. "My priority is Zero, not your war."

"And that is your choice to make," emphasizes Optimus. "Bumblebee, Arcee, investigate this Decepticon and don't engage unless absolutely necessary."

"Got it," responds Arcee with Bumblebee beeping in affirmation.

Midnight transforms into his car form and beckons Zero over. The young woman looks over at the Autobots as the GroundBridge opens up and reluctantly enters the sedan. They then speed out of the base and into the Nevada desert outside.

After Arcee and Bumblebee disappear through the GroundBridge, Ratchet looks over at Optimus uneasily.

"I still don't think it's a good idea to let them come and go as they please if they're not aligned with us," he articulates to the larger Autobot. "Arcee is not wrong about her concerns."

"I do not fault Midnight for caring for the safety of his human charge," responds Optimus. "By allying with us, he puts her at higher risk for getting involved."

"All the same, the war has been brought to Earth and here it will stay until Megatron decides to go elsewhere," asserts Ratchet. "With all due respect, there's not much that can be done to stay out of the crossfire."

"You are right about that," agrees Optimus. "But the decision still remains Midnight's to make, not us. All we can do is wait."

* * *

The ride back to town was quiet. Zero sat in the driver's seat looking rather perturbed as Midnight controlled the steering wheel.

"You've been rather silent since we left," spoke up Midnight. "Don't want to talk history to me anymore?"

"I still think we should join up with them," responds Zero stubbornly.

"No good can come from us getting involved, Zero," argues Midnight.

"The news report said that MECH destroyed our home," asserts Zero. "Even when we don't get involved, we're still dragged into someone's fight. So might as well join the better side."

"Joining the Autobots won't bring back your family," counters Midnight.

Tears begin to well up in Zero's eyes.

"I'm still alive for a reason, Mid," the young woman sniffles as she fights back emotions. "If it's not to help protect Earth, then what other reason is there?"

Midnight falls silent as he continues to drive. They eventually arrive at their campsite, consisting of Zero's old car and a smoldering fire pit. Zero emerges from Midnight to enter the old sedan for the night. Due to her being unable to find a full-time job, finding a home on her small budget hasn't been easy. It just seemed cheaper to simply live out of the car and use public restrooms. Midnight wishes he could do more for her, but his new stature would not financially help her in the least.

Setting up the campfire, Midnight relegates himself to watch duty, making sure nothing and no one comes by to rob Zero. Not that there was much to rob, anyhow, but Midnight knows how cruel humans can be and can only imagine how much worse Decepticons are judging by what he hears from the Autobots.

A few hours pass after Zero finally fell asleep. Due to his technological nature, Midnight felt little to no tiredness at all. He began pondering how his new body would react once his stores of Energon ran out. He didn't feel comfortable going to the Autobots for Energon, but going to the Decepticons was out of the question. He then becomes annoyed knowing that his body forces him to be reliant on a fuel source that is at the forefront in the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

Suddenly, he hears rustling and jumps up with cannons drawn. He quickly scans the area, but sees nothing but tall grass and scattered trees.

"Maybe I'm getting a bit too paranoid," he sighs as he retracts his cannons and sits down again.

Unbeknownst to him, a bird-like shadow circles high above them and then flies off into the distance.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Aboard the Nemesis, Megatron was plotting another way to take down the Autobots when he was interrupted by Soundwave, his silent spy whose optics and microphones proved useful to the leader of the Decepticons time and time again.

"This had better be good, Soundwave," Megatron growls at his underling.

The Decepticon shows him a video feed of a campsite, where a mysterious giant robot sat near a broken up sedan.

"A new Autobot?" ponders Megatron curiously. "And yet, why would it be sitting out in the open, ready to be attacked?"

"Shall I investigate, Lord Megatron?" spoke up Knockout, the medic and scientist of the Decepticons.

"Find out what you can about this bot," orders Megatron. "If it is not an Autobot, I would like to meet it."

* * *

Zero lets out a long yawn as Midnight drives along the highway to nowhere in particular.

"So, what do you want to do now?" she asks him as she sat in the driver's seat.

"I've already made up my mind about it," answers Midnight nonchalantly.

"You're going to need Energon eventually," notes Zero. "And it's not like we have the means to mine and refine the stuff for you."

"I know," sighs Midnight. "I'm starting to wish I had my old body back. Then we wouldn't have to worry about all this Autobot and Decepticon stuff."

"We might end up running into them eventually if they're warring on Earth," argues Zero.

"Yeah, well, we were able to avoid all that for the past several years," counters Midnight.

Just then, Midnight notices a suspicious aircraft following them and exits off the highway into a rural road in hopes of losing it. Once they got to a remote area, he stops seeing the aircraft and breathes a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a red sports car appears and transforms into a giant robot.

"Greetings. I am Knockout," introduces the red robot.

Two aircrafts transform and land on either side of Midnight, revealing themselves to be the Vehicons.

"Zero, stay inside," orders Midnight. "We definitely don't need to get involved with these guys."

"There's no use hiding it," assures Knockout. "We know you're a bot."

Zero grabs her twin ox-tail sabers and emerges from the car despite protests from Midnight.

"A human?" exclaims Knockout in surprise. "I don't remember Soundwave reporting anything about a human being with the bot."

He scoffs as Zero falls into an attack stance with her swords.

"Oh? You think you can take us?" sneers Knockout. "Go ahead, _knock_ yourself out."

Midnight quickly transforms into his robot form and stands before Zero.

"You lay a finger on her and I'll make you regret it," warns the robot with cannons drawn.

"Interesting," Knockout thinks aloud. "You're no Autobot, yet you have a human partner?"

"I have no interest in this war you're fighting with the Autobots, so leave us!" growls Midnight.

"You've got it all wrong," laughs Knockout. "Our master simply wants to meet you. We have no reason to attack you if you're not one of the Autobots."

"We're not going anywhere," declares Midnight defiantly.

He hears the Vehicons cock their guns at him and Zero.

"I don't think you have much of a choice," muses Knockout. "What Megatron wants, he gets."

* * *

Zero and Midnight soon found themselves deep within the bowels of the Decepticon ship Nemesis. Zero holds on tightly to Midnight as she sat upon his shoulder, feeling very uneasy being among the Decepticons. Midnight tries to put on a brave face, but even he is scared of what they will do to him and Zero.

They eventually make it to the ship's bridge, where the leader of the Decepticons himself stood ominously.

"Here is the bot, my liege," Knockout presents them to Megatron with a bow.

"Knockout, you dare bring a human into my domain?" growls the Decepticon leader.

"Uh, she was with him, my lord," Knockout responds quickly and nervously. "He refused to leave without her."

"What do you want with us?" Midnight demands outright.

"You're rather bold for a bot surrounded by those who may be his enemies," notes Megatron. "Do tell, what is your name? And why do you have no insignia?"

"I am Midnight and this is my partner Zero," declares the bot. "We're allied to neither Autobot nor Decepticon and we want no part in your war."

"Really?" laughs Megatron. "And what makes you think you can keep yourself out of this war?"

"I was born here on Earth with absolutely no ties to Cybertron," asserts Midnight.

"Impossible!" exclaims Megatron in disbelief. "Every bot on this planet was born and raised in Cybertron. No human technology could ever create a Cybertronian."

"Well, believe it, because I created Midnight!" says Zero.

Megatron and the other Decepticons laugh out loud.

"Fascinating! You two are truly fascinating!" chuckles the Decepticon leader. "A human girl managed to create a Cybertronian bot right here on Earth with no ties to either Autobot or Decepticon! Such a rarity!"

Megatron motions to the Vehicons to quickly apprehend Midnight and Zero.

"Leave her alone!" shouts Midnight.

"I think I want to tinker around with you some more," sneers Megatron. "See what makes you tick. Knockout! Try giving them a dose of Dark Energon."

A sinister smile comes across the medic's face. "As you wish, Lord Megatron."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Bound down to tables in the Nemesis' sick bay, Midnight and Zero struggle to break free.

"How'd we get into this mess?" groans Midnight. "We didn't do anything to them."

"Well, you did kind of take out a Decepticon a few days ago," grunts Zero.

"Which they don't even know because they thought I was an Autobot," counters Midnight, wriggling his wrists.

"Mid, I'm sorry," apologizes Zero as she looks over at him with worried hazel eyes. "If I haven't—"

"You already said so yourself," responds Midnight. "What's done is done. And I guess we're part of this war now. There's no going back."

"Back then, I did everything for us to get us by," Zero says solemnly, finally resigning to their fate. "And all you could do is encourage and support me. Now it's my turn to encourage and support you, Mid."

"Don't talk like that," replies Midnight, still struggling against his restraints. "We'll get out of here and run as far away from all of this as we can."

"Mid, what did you mean back there?" asks Zero, looking up at the dark ceiling. "When you talked about us making a home anywhere?"

"Earth is doomed, Zero," answers Midnight grimly. "Whether by humans or Autobots and Decepticons, this planet doesn't have a bright future either way. I've seen the signs all over. There's no point trying to save a planet that is beyond saving."

"You really believe that?" Zero was feeling disappointed by the response. "You really believe we can't do anything, even with you as a giant robot?"

"Zero, robot or not, it's just the two of us," Midnight articulates. "What can we do for this planet?"

Just then, Knockout enters the room bearing a canister of some sinister-looking red-violet liquid.

"Hope you two are comfortable," banters the medic. "You'll be here a while."

"Let her go!" shouts Midnight. "She's done nothing to you!"

"And miss out on all the fun we'll have?" jokes Knockout. He begins filling a very fine syringe with some of the liquid. "I've always wondered how humans will react to Dark Energon, considering they're inhabitants of a planet made from Unicron himself."

"No! Stop!" Midnight struggles harder to break free. "Leave her alone!"

Zero screams out in pain as the syringe stabs into her arm. She could feel the mysterious liquid flowing into her bloodstream and a strange sensation washes over her body. She soon became quiet and her body goes limp as her head falls to the side. Her eyes glaze over as a purplish hue overtakes them.

"What have you done to her?" cries out Midnight.

"Well that was anticlimactic," Knockout utters in disappointment. "I was hoping for more of a show."

"Zero! Zero, talk to me!" pleads Midnight. "Please talk to me!"

Knockout fills up a bigger syringe with the Dark Energon and approaches Midnight's table with a smirk.

"I'll make you pay!" growls the robot.

"We'll see about that," sneers Knockout as he injects the Dark Energon into Midnight.

Almost instantly, Midnight felt a burning sensation rush through his body and he cries out from the pain of it. He becomes woozy and his sight begins to blur. He suddenly hears Knockout talking about something, but couldn't hear clearly what was said. The next thing he knew, the sound of frantic footsteps and gunfire echoed from outside. But there was nothing he could do as he gradually passes out.

* * *

"Midnight. Midnight, can you hear me?"

Midnight groans as he groggily opens his optics to see the concerned face of Ratchet. He could sense his body was lying down on something, but he was unrestrained.

"R… Ratchet…?" he utters softly. "Wh… where am I?"

He hears another voice and turns to see Optimus Prime.

"We received a distress signal from Zero and got a GroundBridge to your coordinates as quickly as we could," explains the Autobot leader.

"Zero…" Midnight repeats dizzily. He tries to sit up, but Ratchet tries to ease him back down.

"Easy, Midnight," warns the medic. "Wait until you get your strength back."

"I… I need to see Zero…" insists Midnight, trying to shake off the grogginess. "Where is she…?"

"You need to lie down," repeats Ratchet.

"Where is she?" Midnight asks again with a bit more strength in his voice.

Optimus Prime takes a step to the side to reveal Zero lying very still on a human-size bed near him. Bumblebee stood watching over her.

"No…" Midnight rolls out of the bed, causing cables to break away from him. Ratchet tries to stop him, but Optimus holds him back. "Zero… Is she…?"

"She's not dead," affirms the medic. He hesitates to speak again. "But she's… not quite alive, either."

Midnight was silent for some time as he tries to cope with everything that's happened.

"They… they injected us with Dark Energon…" he strains to talk. "How did you guys know to find us?"

"We enabled a comlink on Zero's phone," explains Bulkhead. "Zero didn't want to tell you because she knew how much you didn't want to align yourself with us."

Midnight begins to sob. "Zero… I'm so sorry…"

"Injecting a human with Dark Energon…" Arcee utters in disgust. "Those Decepticons…"

"The last time we had a human exposed to Dark Energon, it was from a gun blast," notes Ratchet. "But an injection of refined Dark Energon…"

"Can she be saved?" asks Midnight, forcing himself to regain his composure.

Everyone falls silent.

"I… I don't know…" responds Ratchet. "I'm not familiar enough with human biology, but we know someone who is."

"I've already contacted Jack and his mother," spoke up Arcee. "They should be here any minute."

Soon enough, Jack and his mother June arrive on the scene with a medical kit. Jack does his best to assist his mother while she examines Zero.

"She's comatose," diagnoses June. "We'll need to put her on a life support system to keep her alive. Her condition is really bad."

"I will call Agent Fowler to see what he can do," affirms Optimus.

"I haven't seen anyone look this bad since Raf," notes Jack. "What happened to her?"

Midnight manages to shake off the initial haze he was in and become fully conscious of what was happening. A burning rage was building up inside of him at his uselessness to help Zero. He stands up and clenches his fists.

"I've done nothing but be a disappointment to her since I got this body," he utters emotionally. He looks over at the Autobots. "I want to do what I can to make this right."

"Revenge isn't going to bring her back, Midnight," asserts Arcee. "I've lost two partners. I know how you feel."

"I can't just stand by and let the Decepticons get away with this," declares Midnight.

"You're not going anywhere," affirms Ratchet. "You've got nothing but Dark Energon flowing through you. We can't be sure of how it affects you compared to Megatron. You need to remain in the base until we know there are no side effects that could jeopardize us."

Midnight narrows his now purplish optics at the medic and then looks down at Zero. The last thing he wanted was to make their current situation even worse for the both of them. With a sigh, he goes over to sit down next to Zero.

"I want to be here when she wakes up," he declares firmly.

Optimus nods in response. "We will do everything in our power to help bring her back."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Zero opens her eyes to find herself in her room. The white walls were plastered with posters of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing along with her Gundam and Zoids model kits. With a yawn, she rises up from her bed and stretches herself out. The door opens up and her dad walks in with an exasperated smile.

"Are you still in bed?" he asks her. "Just because it's summer, you shouldn't be sleeping in too much. It'll throw off your sleep pattern for school."

"But Wing Zero needed his arms," smiles Zero, looking over at her worktable where a model kit laid unfinished. "I couldn't go to bed until they were both completed."

"Sometimes I wonder if you should've been born a boy instead," chuckles her father. "These kits are so expensive."

"I'm already experienced with No Grade and High Grade models," explains Zero enthusiastically. "Master Grade is the next level up. And I can't help it if Zoids models only come in master level."

Her dad pats her head gently. "Well, robots or no robots, you still need to get up and eat something. - already made some hotdogs for us in the kitchen."

"Okay, okay," says Zero as she gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

After getting dressed, she goes downstairs where her younger brother was taking hotdogs out from the toaster oven.

"Morning -," she greets him.

"Don't you mean 'afternoon'?" smirks her brother. "Mom said for you to take out the trash for trash day tomorrow."

"Aww, I wanted to put together Wing Zero's chest today," groans Zero.

"He's not going anywhere," sighs her brother. "You'll still stay up putting him together with or without trash duty anyways. I've already got dish duty today."

"Fine," spoke Zero as she shoves a hotdog into her mouth.

After she ate, Zero bounds around the house gathering all the trash to put into the trash cans outside. As she drags all three big cans from the backyard to the front yard, she notices a brand new dark blue sedan roll up onto the driveway. She looked confused as she set the trash cans on the curb and walks over to the now opened garage and watches as her mom emerges from the car.

"I didn't realize we had enough money for a new car," Zero greets her mother with a hint of worry.

"We'll talk inside," her mother assures her with a smirk as she opens the trunk. "Help with the groceries, please."

Zero rolls her eyes and grabs some bags.

* * *

That night at dinner, Zero's brother talked about his day hanging out at the park with his friends. After her parents share their day, Zero finally spoke up.

"Do we really need a new car?" she asks aloud.

"-, we've been talking about you helping around financially," her dad begins, looking over at her mom. "I know you've been trying to help out, getting a job and all—"

"And blowing a chunk of it on model kits," interrupts her brother nonchalantly.

"-, that's her money and it's her choice to use it however she wants," her mom reminds him.

"It's been rather difficult getting our work schedules to line up in order to drop you off and pick you up at work," her dad continues. "So your mom and I made the decision to get you a car of your own. This way, you can pick up more hours and you won't have to rely on us to get you to and from work."

"Did it have to be a new car?" asks Zero. "A used car would be cheaper."

"Well, you're a girl and it would be better for you to get a new car since it won't break down so much and put you in bad situations," adds her dad.

"I've got years of gong fu training behind me," asserts Zero. "I can take care of myself."

"-, we know you can take care of yourself," clarifies her mom. "It's just that… we feel better knowing you're in a good car."

"You're strong, -, but you're still a girl," her dad continues. "You can only do so much if you went up against men."

Zero clenches her fists. Her family wasn't exactly poor, but they weren't exactly rich either. Payments on this new car will hinder her family's financial situation and she didn't want that. And with auto insurance on top of it, it was an extra burden they didn't need.

"Let me help pay it off," she insists. "It'll be quicker since I can help make money, too."

"No, -," says her dad. "This is your mom and my birthday gift to you. Don't worry about it, we'll pay it off."

"But—"

"You just focus on finishing high school," says her mom. "That's all we want for you in return."

* * *

After dinner, Zero went up to her room and sat at her desktop computer, looking up what was needed to maintain a car. Oil changes, tire pressure, gasoline, and a myriad of other things made her feel overwhelmed. She already had trouble remembering birthdays and school holidays, adding car maintenance just felt troublesome to her. She leans back with arms crossed, unsure of what to do.

"If only…" she utters.

An idea pops into her head and she starts researching AI programming all over the Internet. She spends all night trying to program an AI assistant through multiple trial and errors, but was unsuccessful. She refused to give up and continued doing research and development for the next several nights, never letting the rest of the family know what she was up to. For all they knew, Zero was still working on her model kits, but Wing Zero continued to lay unfinished on her worktable.

Finally, one night, Zero makes a breakthrough and manages to make an AI that responds to her with simple sentences.

"What is my name?" asks the AI.

Zero thought long and hard on what she wanted to name the AI. Looking out the window at the night sky, she decided on a name that best fit the work that she put into the program.

"Midnight," she tells the AI. "Your name will be Midnight."

* * *

The next morning, Zero loads Midnight into her laptop and introduces him to her family. Her parents and younger brother were astonished to meet the AI. Her brother insists that Midnight will eventually turn against them because of the Terminator movies, but Zero has faith that Midnight wouldn't do that. Using her laptop's webcam and microphone, Midnight learns about Zero and her family at an exponential rate with each passing day. After she uploads him to her car, Midnight eventually becomes self-aware in a matter of months and starts becoming curious about the world around him. Without her knowing, he starts to surf the Internet, absorbing information as he went.

Months went by before Midnight really felt he was part of the family. The knowledge he gained from the Internet gave him a very protective personality over everyone, especially Zero since she created him. Though he lacks the ability to control Zero's car, he takes comfort in just being a constant presence to the young woman, whether as a laptop or a car.

All that changed one day when Zero went on a recreational drive to show Midnight even more of the world outside of the California cityscape. During the excursion, the city fell under attack and Zero returned to the National Guard blocking her from getting to her home; a home that was now not much more than a pile of rubble. The only items she had left with her were her external hard drive that contained everything that was on her desktop, her laptop, and the clothes on her back. It was during this time that Midnight felt his first human-like emotion: sadness.

After that event, Zero abandoned her identity in an effort to put her past behind her and moved to Nevada to start a new life with Midnight. She got a new part-time job and began living out of the car. Midnight's personality flourished further and he eventually learned to feel more emotions. Though they lived an event-less life, Midnight could tell that Zero yearned for her family and something more in her lonely life.

She never made friends again, choosing to have Midnight as her only companion.

Her shelter.

* * *

 **A/N:** The names of Zero's family and Zero's real name itself are blanked out because part of this is her recalling her memories and has thus chosen to leave the names out because recalling them was too painful.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Several days passed since Midnight and Zero were captured by the Decepticons. Zero has been hooked up to life support and Midnight spent his time sitting by her side since then. Midnight couldn't feel much difference between Energon and Dark Energon. He learned that shards of Dark Energon have the ability to imbue a Cybertronian with increased strength and speed as well as make them more aggressive. In deceased Cybertronians, it causes them to turn into feral undead. Midnight theorizes that because he was born on Earth and, by extension, Unicron himself the Dark Energon doesn't affect him very much. Not to mention he was injected with refined Dark Energon, which could be less volatile than the raw crystal itself. Ratchet is skeptical, as Midnight's body itself was a product of Decepticon technology since it was designed for cloning rather than the creation of new robots.

"Well, in any case, Midnight's not trying to kill us all like everyone else that's been hit with Dark Energon," points out Bulkhead. "So I say he's good."

"Midnight's body may be Decepticon, but his spark is Autobot," says Optimus. "He is no danger to us."

"If Midnight wanted to attack us, he would've done so by now, right?" adds Smokescreen.

"Okay, okay, you've all made your point," resigns Ratchet. "But we still need to keep an eye on him regardless. Even if Midnight's fine now, there's the possibility that Megatron could use the Dark Energon inside of him to his advantage."

"Great, no combat missions for me," exclaims Midnight. "Guess you guys can leave me alone now."

"You're not even Autobot-aligned, you can't go on missions with us anyhow," asserts Smokescreen.

"Smokescreen, we can't afford to be picky about our team members," spoke up Optimus. "If Midnight wants to help us, Autobot or not, he's welcome to."

Midnight looks over at Zero who still remains comatose.

"You'd want me to help out, wouldn't you?" he asks her rhetorically. After some time to think, he gets to his feet and looks over at the other Autobots. "Count me in then, if you need me."

"We appreciate any help you can provide," Optimus thanks him.

"You've done so much for us," says Midnight. "It's the least I can do."

"Optimus! We need backup!"

Arcee's voice rings out from the communications console and Optimus looks over at his options.

"Ratchet," he begins. "Set up a GroundBridge for Bulkhead and Midnight."

"Seriously?" exclaims Smokescreen in disbelief. "He's greener than me!"

"Midnight wants a chance to prove himself," explains Optimus. "So I'm giving him one."

"Don't worry, I've got your back," assures Bulkhead, putting a hand on Midnight's shoulder.

"GroundBridge is up!" declares Ratchet upon turning on the lever.

Back on the field, Arcee and Bumblebee take cover behind some boulders as a squad of Vehicons fire on them. Before they could fire back, the GroundBridge portal appears and out came Bulkhead and Midnight with guns and cannons blazing.

"Optimus sent Midnight instead of Smoke?" Arcee shouts to Bulkhead as Midnight backs up Bumblebee.

"He wanted to give the guy a chance at field combat!" Bulkhead shouts back as he shot down a Vehicon.

Bumblebee beeps at Midnight as if to ask him a question.

"I took down one Vehicon some time back," replies Midnight with a shrug. "Does that count as experience?"

A worried look overcomes Bumblebee's face.

Bulkhead charges into the squad of Vehicons and manages to disable some with his wrecking balls. Midnight jumps in after him and uses switchblades under his arm to cut a Vehicon diagonally. With his mind focused, Midnight proceeds to run up to another Vehicon, grab it by the head, and then tear it in half.

"Remind me to never piss that guy off," Bulkhead says to Arcee when she catches up to him.

Midnight continues to make short work of several Vehicons by means of hand-to-hand combat while the other Autobots fire away at the rest. When the battle was over, they head over to the Energon mine that Arcee and Bumblebee discovered before being accosted by the Decepticons. Midnight's arms were splashed with Energon spilled from the Vehicons, causing the others to keep their distance.

Midnight rolls his purplish optics at them. "You guys are still in one piece, aren't you?"

"For now," responds Arcee.

* * *

"He did what? Aww man, I wish I was there to see it!" exclaims Miko after Bulkhead told her, Jack, and Rafael what happened on Midnight's first mission with the Autobots.

"So does this mean Midnight's officially an Autobot?" wonders Jack.

"I'm not quite ready to get etched just yet," answers Midnight assuredly. "But I know I'll never join up with the Decepticons after what happened to Zero."

Rafael looks over to the young woman. "She still hasn't woken up yet?"

Midnight goes over to sit on the ground next to her bed. "No…"

"All we can do is hope her body can fight off the effects of the Dark Energon on its own," explains Ratchet solemnly. "There's nothing more we can do for her."

* * *

As Midnight sat next to Zero late into the night, he was approached by Arcee.

"You should power down every once in a while," she suggests to him. "It's not good to be running all the time."

"I know that all too well," chuckles Midnight. "When I was Zero's laptop, she'd sometimes forget to turn me off so I end up overheating whatever she had me on top of. She freaked out once when I got the blue screen of death."

"I'm guessing that's a human tech thing," asks Arcee with a smile.

"It's strange, isn't it?" begins Midnight, looking up at the Autobot. "Someone with a Cybertronian body that knows nothing of Cybertron."

"Well, you're very unique," responds Arcee, taking a seat across from him. "Zero must've taken great care when she created you."

"She dropped me a few times when I was her laptop," chuckles Midnight. "Of course, that wasn't an issue when I became her car. She was a very careful driver."

Arcee looks over at Zero still unconscious on her bed.

"I haven't known Jack for very long," she begins. "Yet, I'd probably feel like you do if something terrible happened to him."

"Zero's shown me a lot about this world," responds Midnight, recalling their recreational drives as he gazes at Zero. He turns his optics back to Arcee. "Tell me about Cybertron."

Arcee falls silent as she searches her mind for her memories of her homeworld.

"It was… a magnificent world," she begins. "Before the war, it was rather peaceful. We didn't quite have seasons like you do here, but when the sun rises and sets on the horizon…"

A nostalgic smile forms across Arcee's face. "You could see a literal silver lining everywhere you looked."

* * *

 **A/N:** No, I'm not pairing Midnight with Arcee. She's just the only Autobot that makes sense for these conversations.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Jack entered the Autobots' base and encounters Ratchet and Bumblebee hanging around.

"Where's everyone else?" he wonders aloud.

"Out on a scouting mission for more Energon," answers Ratchet, who's tinkering away on another project.

"With Midnight, too?" asks Jack.

"They wanted to show him how to look for Energon," explains the medic. "And Smokescreen was being a pain in the tailpipe about it, so they dragged him along as well."

Jack chuckles a bit after hearing that and steps down the stairs to check on Zero.

"She's still out," he affirms upon examining her.

"I can't tell if that life support system is helping or hindering her recovery," grumbles Rachet.

"All it does is just keep her alive," explains Jack. "Recovery is all up to her."

Bumblebee beeps in response.

Suddenly, Zero opens her eyes, which were still overlaid with a purplish haze. Jack jumps back in surprise and Bumblebee beeps to Ratchet. The medic stops what he was doing and goes over to examine the young woman as she sat up.

"Zero, how are you feeling?" he asks her, getting down on one knee.

She says nothing as she turns to get out of the bed. After a moment of standing to get her bearings, she slowly turns to look at Jack and then grabs him by the throat.

"Ack!" chokes the teenager as she lifts him clear off the floor. "Z-Zero! What are you doing?"

"Zero! Unhand him at once!" orders Ratchet, quickly getting to his feet.

Bumblebee was confused what to do as he got to his feet. He couldn't exactly attack the young woman since he could easily destroy her. Yet doing nothing would endanger Jack further. Thinking quickly, Bumblebee snatches Zero up in his hand, causing her to drop Jack onto the floor coughing.

"Be careful, Bumblebee!" warns Ratchet. "We don't know what she's capable of with the Dark Energon in her blood!"

Before Bumblebee could think of what to do next, Zero breaks open his hand with strength she never had before and lands on her feet with ease. Ratchet tries to apprehend her, but she easily trips him by kicking into his leg.

"Me… ga… tron…" she utters as if under some sort of spell.

She jumps up on the GroundBridge console and enters the coordinates to her campsite. When Bumblebee tries to make a grab for her with his other hand, she catches it and tosses Bumblebee into the GroundBridge lever, activating it.

"No!" Ratchet calls out as Zero ran right into the portal.

He hurriedly gets up to shut off the GroundBridge, but it was too late. The young woman was already gone.

Jack manages to get his breath back as he approaches Ratchet.

"You don't think she's going after the Decepticons, do you?" he asks him.

"If she is, things are going to get really bad very quickly," answers Ratchet.

Jack begins to contemplate on something.

"Is it just me, or did she get a lot taller?"

* * *

Back outside, Zero manages to track down a Decepticon mining operation and sneaks into their GroundBridge to get back into the Nemesis. She wanders the halls without fear, her mind in a cloudy haze with the only objective being to find Megatron. She encounters a couple of patrolling Vehicons that immediately point their blasters at her. Without a second to spare, she dashes onto them and rips off their heads with her arms. Knockout appears just as the second Vehicon's head comes flying off and he is astonished to see her land on her feet without issue.

"So you've come back," he snarls, aiming his guncannon at her. "And why are you here?"

Zero simply looks up at him with glazed purplish eyes. "Me… ga… tron…"

Knockout chuckles and retracts his guncannon. "I supposed I'll humor you, only to see what happens when Megatron sees you again."

He leads her over to the bridge where Megatron was busy communicating with Soundwave. The Decepticon leader notices the two of them and looks on rather curiously.

"The human has returned without her robot?" he inquires.

"She kept saying your name," answers Knockout. "I figured you'd like to deal with her personally."

"And how did she manage to get into our ship?" demanded Megatron with optics narrowed in annoyance. "Our security must be laxed to allow a human aboard."

"Actually," begins Knockout. "I found her ripping apart one of our own from the inside out."

"Oh?" exclaims Megatron with great interest. "And if my eyes don't deceive me, she looks a bit bigger as well."

"The Dark Energon must've mutated her into a mindless killing… thing," theorizes Knockout. "Like a fleshy Scraplet."

"Zero, was it?" Megatron addresses the young woman. He then orders a Vehicon to approach her. "Show me what you can do."

Without a second to spare, Zero dashes towards the Vehicon and dives into its body before it could react. Megatron watches as the Vehicon writhes in pain before the young woman bursts out of its neck splashed with Energon. The other Vehicons look on in horror while Megatron laughs evilly.

"Splendid!" he exclaims with satisfaction. "If this is what Dark Energon does to one human, imagine what could be done with the rest of the species. And since Optimus refuses to kill any human, he'll have no choice but to force himself and the Autobots to stand down, while the humans he cares so much about tear them limb from limb!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Ratchet was beside himself as he paces back and forth trying to figure out how to explain the situation to Midnight once he returned with the others.

"We were finally earning Midnight's trust and then this happens," he exclaims in frustration.

"I'm sure he'll understand," responds Jack with a cough.

Bumblebee beeps in a worried tone.

"That's disconcerting," replies Ratchet.

"What's he saying?" asks Jack.

"Bumblebee says that Midnight is rather brutal on the battlefield," translates the medic. "I fear what he'd do to us for losing Zero. Especially with that Dark Energon inside him."

Just then, Optimus' voice rings out from the comlink. "Ratchet, deploy the GroundBridge."

"Scrap," exclaims Ratchet.

Hesitantly, he opens up the portal to see Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead, Smokescreen, and Midnight return from their expedition.

"How was the mission?" asks Ratchet, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"We ran into some Decepticons, but nothing we couldn't handle," answers Bulkhead, aiming a worried look over at Midnight.

"Mid's… uh… impressive," stutters Smokescreen, feeling a little sick from what he witnessed out on the field.

Ratchet feels as if his spark sank to the bottom of his feet.

"… Where's Zero?"

Everyone looks over to where Midnight was standing, his fists clenched rather tightly. Bumblebee and Ratchet share nervous glances at each other.

"We…" began Ratchet. "We had a situation."

Midnight slowly turns his head towards the medic. The tone of his voice was lined with a hint of rage. "A situation…?"

"It's not their fault!" Jack speaks up. "Zero… she woke up and tried to choke me. Bumblebee and Ratchet tried to stop her, but she managed to trip the GroundBridge and ran off."

"Why would she attack you?" asks Arcee.

"It was weird," explains Jack. "It looked like she was possessed or something. She kept saying only one thing."

"What was it?" wonders Bulkhead.

Jack hesitated a bit before he spoke again. "… Megatron."

Everyone's optics widen in response.

"That doesn't make sense," exclaims Smokescreen. "She insisted on joining up with us. Why would she suddenly go to the Decepticons?"

"She's not thinking straight," Ratchet assures them. "The Dark Energon must be poisoning her. We need to get her back here before she gets worse."

Midnight punches the wall in frustration, surprising everyone.

"It's my fault," he groans. "I told her to forsake the Earth. That it wasn't worth us trying to be heroes."

"Why would you say that?" asks Arcee. "This planet is your home."

"You haven't seen the things I've seen," answers Midnight. "Humans have been warring on this planet for centuries, destroying each other and harming the planet itself. It's only a matter of time before it meets the same fate as your Cybertron, with or without your war."

"Although Earth's core is the Chaos-Bringer himself, that doesn't mean that saving it is a futile effort," affirms Optimus. He lays a hand on Midnight's shoulder, prompting him to turn and look at the Autobot leader. "I don't believe that Zero has taken your beliefs to heart. I'm sure that deep down, she still believes in saving Earth."

Midnight looks down at the floor before returning his gaze to Optimus. "You're right. She never gave up… so I shouldn't give up either."

"But how are we supposed to find her?" brings up Smokescreen. "She could be on the Nemesis as we speak, and there's no way we can track that down."

"I don't think we'll need to," says Ratchet, looking over at the console screen where a message notification was blinking. He opens it up and begins to read the contents. "If you want your little pet back, meet us at the following coordinates to negotiate a deal. Signed, Megatron."

"A deal?" repeats Bulkhead. "What kind of deal?"

Bumblebee starts beeping angrily.

"Bumblebee's right, it could be a trap," translates Arcee.

"We cannot afford to allow Zero to be in the possession of the Decepticons any longer," declares Optimus. "Ratchet, prepare the GroundBridge."

"I'm coming, too," insists Midnight.

"Are you sure about that?" wonders Ratchet. "The Dark Energon inside you might react to Megatron's presence. We can't afford to have you turning on us, too."

"I'm the only one who has a chance of reaching Zero," argues Midnight. "If anyone is bringing her back, it should be me."

"I don't know about this, Ratchet might be right," asserts Arcee.

"It's six of you against one of me," reasons Midnight. "If anything happens, you guys can take me out easily."

"I sincerely hope it won't have to come to that," voices Optimus.

* * *

Megatron and Knockout met the Autobots near a wide river in a forest. Nearby was Shockwave with Zero standing on his shoulder, one hand on the Decepticon's head. Her eyes were still glazed over with a purplish hue. Midnight narrows his optics upon seeing them after emerging from the GroundBridge.

"Such concern for just one human," sneers Megatron with amusement. "Is she really worth more to you than your other humans?"

"What do you mean?" demands Smokescreen.

"If a small amount of refined Dark Energon could turn a mere human into an unstoppable minion," begins Megatron, motioning over to Knockout who held a canister of the purple over the river. "Imagine what a whole canister could do to the entire human population."

Optimus and the others stiffen in response to that.

"You wouldn't," exclaims Arcee.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" responds Megatron with a laugh. "Although Dark Energon is in short supply, I'm willing to part with some of it for the joy of seeing the humans become my slaves."

"What do you want?" inquires Optimus.

"To see your demise at the hands of the humans you so covet," answers Megatron. "It would be such satisfying irony. However… I think I'll keep her as my personal pet." He motions over to Zero with an evil grin. "I've grown… attached to her."

Midnight growls upon hearing that as the rest of the Autobots stand down. Optimus looks over at him and tries to think of a way to get out of the situation they were in.

"And of course, you wouldn't dare to attack us," affirms Megatron confidently. "Not as long as we have the girl in our possession."

Two Vehicons apprehend Bumblebee and drag him before Megatron, throwing him onto the ground. Soundwave lowers Zero to the ground and the young woman approaches the Autobot.

"But first," begins Megatron. "I'll have you watch Zero take apart your team until you're the only one left."

"No! Zero!" Midnight shouts to her.

The young woman proceeds to punch through Bumblebee's left arm to rip out his tubes, spilling Energon onto the ground. The Autobot beeps loudly in pain as he grabs his arm.

"Make it slow and painful," orders Megatron.

"Zero, stop!" pleads Midnight. "Snap out of it! This isn't you!"

Bumblebee looks at Zero as she approaches his head, looking as if prepared to take out his optics. As she pulls back her hand to punch one out, she stops in mid-motion and her eyes lock onto that of Bumblebee's. She could see her reflection in his optics and this triggers something within her as she suddenly starts clutching her head and groans.

"What?" exclaims Megatron.

Using this chance, Arcee quickly blasts the Dark Energon canister out of Knockouts hands, causing it to land softly on the other side of the river on a patch of grass. The Autobots break into battle as Bumblebee quickly grabs Zero and ducks behind a boulder to keep her safe. Bulkhead splits off to take down some Vehicons while Arcee and Midnight double-team Knockout and try to keep the Dark Energon away from him. Optimus faces off against Megatron as Smokescreen takes on Soundwave.

"Knockout!" screeches Megatron. "Throw that canister into the river!"

"Oh no you don't!" shouts Arcee, managing to beat the Decepticon to the canister.

The victory was short-lived as Knockout kicks the Autobot's feet from underneath her and catches the canister effortlessly. Without warning, Midnight barrels into Knockout, sending him flying into a nearby boulder and dropping the canister. Before he could react, Midnight sends a tightly fisted punch into the Decepticon's face, scratching it up considerably.

"This is for Zero!" Midnight roars as a blade emerges from his arm.

Knockout quickly dodges a close shave from the bot and kicks him away to put some distance in between them. He scans the area for the canister and catches sight of it. Dodging another swipe from Midnight, he dashes over to the canister and reaches his hand out to grab it. Arcee gets there first and kicks it out of his reach and farther away from the river. As it flew in mid-air, the female Autobot takes aim and fires several shots at it. One manages to shatter the canister, spilling the contents far away from the river onto a patch of dirt.

Failing his objective, Knockout dashes over to support Soundwave, who was making short work of the greenhorn Smokescreen, flipping him right into the river. Megatron manages to knock Optimus down with punch, causing him to catch sight of the refined Dark Energon on the ground across the river. Roaring in frustration, he orders the remaining Decepticons to retreat.

"This isn't over, Optimus!" he shouts at the Autobot leader as he transforms into his alt mode and flies off.

Optimus watches as the Decepticons disappear into the distance as Midnight rushes over to Bumblebee.

"Zero!" he exclaims upon reaching the Autobot.

Bumblebee had Zero cradled carefully in his arms. The young woman was clearly in a lot of pain as she held her head.

"We have to hurry," asserts Arcee as she contacts Ratchet for a GroundBridge.

* * *

 **A/N:** I used to be good at writing fight scenes, but not anymore. Sorry for the quality!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

After everyone got back in the base, Zero was strapped down to the bed as she writhes in pain, groaning and moaning. Ratchet gives June a sample of Energon, which she then draws into an IV bag.

"You think this is going to work?" Jack asks Ratchet.

"I don't know if it will do anything to counteract the effects of the Dark Energon," answers the Autobot medic uneasily. "But it's the only thing I can think of that might help."

Jack tries to hold down the young woman while June administers the IV needle into Zero's arm. Zero yells out in pain, causing Midnight to look away as he couldn't take the sight of her suffering. Jack and his mother continue to hold Zero down as the Energon slowly made its way from the IV bag into Zero's system. Gradually, the young woman stopped writhing in pain and a blue glow overtakes the purplish hue in her eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, Zero finally closes her eyes to rest.

"That's a good sign," says Jack as he lessens his grip on Zero. "Right?"

"She's certainly responding positively to the Energon," affirms June while she checks Zero's pulse.

The Autobots breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing that.

"Still too soon to tell for sure," speaks up Ratchet. "I don't want anyone to get their hopes up just yet."

"We should keep her on the life support system just in case," suggests June. "In the meantime, she should just rest and stay hydrated. I don't know if she'll be able to keep any food down in this condition, so try not to exasperate things."

"Thank you for all your help," Optimus responds to June.

"Not a problem," affirms June. "I'd do the same for any of you… if you were humans."

Midnight walks over to Zero's bed.

"I think this is our cue to leave," June tells her son.

"You should get some Energon into your system as well, Midnight," suggests Ratchet, laying a hand on Midnight's shoulder. "Dark Energon is unpredictable, and it would do you some good to learn how to administer Energon to yourself."

"Yeah…" responds Midnight as he looks down at Zero sleeping soundly.

* * *

With Ratchet's help, Midnight manages to flush out the Dark Energon in his body and replace it with Energon, causing his formerly purplish optics to change to the more normal blue glow that the Autobots typically have. The Dark Energon was collected into a barrel and set aside for study after the procedure. Midnight then proceeds to go over and sit by Zero, who still remained asleep.

June looks over at him. "I'm going to try to flush out the Dark Energon with the regular Energon and see if that'll do any good. Of course, with the way the human body works, it'll take a bit more time compared to you."

Midnight nods in understanding and turns his attention back to Zero.

"Please get better," he utters softly.

Over by the Autobot sick bay, Ratchet was busy repairing Bumblebee's arm after Zero had torn it up. The scout looks over at the unconscious young woman apprehensively and beeps something.

"She obviously didn't mean it, Bumblebee," assures Ratchet as he worked. "I'm sure she'll clear things up once she's got all that Dark Energon gone from her system."

Bumblebee beeps some more in response.

"Somehow I doubt that," answers Ratchet. "If Megatron couldn't keep Zero under his control with the Dark Energon, I'm pretty sure he won't bother trying to poison the rest of the human population with it anymore."

The Autobot medic finishes up just as June wraps things up with Zero.

"I'll be back tomorrow to take Zero in for a full medical examination," she tells Midnight. "Just to make sure everything's working right."

"Thank you so much, doc," replies Midnight. "I don't know how to repay you."

"Just keep the planet safe like everyone else," answers June with an assuring smile. "This is the least I can do in return."

She gets into her car and drives off. After she disappears down the tunnel, Midnight turns his attention back to Zero who had been hooked up to a secondary IV bag that is now slowly filling up with Dark Energon. He hears footsteps and looks up to see Bumblebee offer him his right hand.

"Sure you're okay?" he asks him as he takes his hand.

The scout beeps back in response.

"I know she tore out your left arm," reiterates Midnight once he got to his feet.

"He's also telling you to stop fussing over Zero so much," adds Ratchet, now working on the GroundBridge console. "You're being overbearing and I have to agree."

Bulkhead walks in after dropping Miko off. "What's going on?"

"Everyone's telling me to stop worrying so much," repeats Midnight, rolling his optics.

"Well, you really shouldn't," agrees the Wrecker. He puts a hand on Midnight's shoulder. "Look, I know how you feel. I'm always worrying for Miko's safety. Heck, she's much more of a handful than Zero even with that Dark Energon business."

"At least Miko and the others have families to go back to," Midnight looks away and brushes Bulkhead's hand off. "Zero has no one but me."

"We've all had our losses," affirms Bulkhead. "But worrying over it won't change anything. Zero is more than capable of taking care of herself. She's not a troublemaker like Miko, at least."

Midnight chuckles at the sound of that. "Oh, if only you knew."

* * *

It was the crack of dawn when Midnight came to after powering down for the night. He looks over to Zero and noticed that the IV bag containing the Dark Energon was full up while the IV bag containing the regular Energon was nearly empty. He could hear her groan a bit and he feels his spark shining brighter.

"Zero?" he calls to her gently.

The young woman manages to open her eyes and looks at Midnight with now glowing blue pupils.

"Mid…" she utters weakly.

"How are you feeling?" he asks her.

"Ugh…" Zero groans as she places a hand on her head. "Feels like I got run over by a truck at least three times."

"Heh, well that's one way of putting it," chuckles Midnight, thinking back to the mission when they managed to get her back from the Decepticons. "Glad to see you're okay."

"Define okay," responds Zero seeing the two IV bags hooked up to her. "What happened while I was out?"

Midnight stares at her in confusion. "You don't remember anything?"

"The last thing I remember was that red Decepticon sticking a needle into my arm," answers Zero. "Everything after that was really hazy."

"Oh, I see," Midnight responds uneasily.

Zero sits up to look at Midnight and tilts her head curiously. "Did I… do something?"

Before Midnight could explain anything, June came driving in with Jack by her side.

"Oh good, you're awake," says June in relief after she came out of the car. "This will make things easier."

"What's going on?" asks Zero.

"We're just going to do a full checkup to make sure the Dark Energon didn't do any lasting damage on you," Jack explains to her calmly. "Which, I'm sure isn't the case."

"Okay…" responds Zero as June carefully removes the IV needles from her body.

"Agent Fowler managed to get us a private medical team," begins June. "You won't need to worry about us taking you to a public hospital."

Zero looks up at Midnight one more time. "You've got some explaining to do."

"That makes two of us," answers Midnight.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm pretty sure that's not the real way to flush out bad blood, but just roll with it for this fic.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Several hours passed before June and Zero returned to the missile silo. Midnight was elated to see Zero again, but he senses something was amiss behind the smile that the young woman displayed to the Autobots.

"So?" wonders Arcee. "What's the verdict?"

"Well, Zero is in good health," begins June. "Aside from her abnormal growth spurt from 5 feet to 7 feet, enhanced strength and durability, and a penchant for Energon."

"That's great to hear," exclaims Smokescreen. He looks over at Midnight. "Right?"

"Yeah… right," responds Midnight.

While Zero starts to talk to the Autobots, Midnight quietly splits off to intercept June before she left for home.

"Mrs. Darby," he calls to her while out of range of the others. "I need to speak with you."

* * *

"So why did you want to go to Megatron?" wonders Bulkhead.

"It's like I told Mid, I don't remember anything after that red Decepticon stuck that needle into me," reiterates Zero.

"Knockout," clarifies Ratchet. "He's the Decepticons' medic."

"You're sure you don't remember anything?" repeats Arcee.

"I mean, I saw… images… but I couldn't tell if they were a dream or real," articulates Zero as best she could, crossing her arms in thought. "I think… I hurt someone… and… enjoyed it…"

Bumblebee beeps his concerns.

"I hurt you, Bumblebee?" exclaims Zero with surprise. She looks down at her hands. "I may be bigger now, but I don't think…"

"You… kind of ripped out the insides of his arm…" asserts Smokescreen hesitantly.

Zero was taken aback by the revelation.

"I didn't…" she utters and looks over at the Autobot scout. "I'm really sorry, Bumblebee! I didn't mean to!"

"What's done is done," affirms Optimus. "Although you've injured our own, I feel at peace knowing that you truly would never want to do so if you were in the right mind."

"And everything's better since you don't have Dark Energon in your body anymore," adds Bulkhead.

"I'm still not quite human, though," counters Zero. "I don't need to breath except to talk. And I doubt I'm nearly as strong as you guys, but I'm definitely stronger than any human now."

"The effects of the Dark Energon do seem irreversible," notes Ratchet, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "But… I'm sure there's a way to get you completely back to being 100% human again. Just as I'm sure someday we'll get Bumblebee his voice box back."

Bumblebee beeps in agreement. Zero manages a smile back at him and turns to see Midnight looking rather relieved. She then lets out a yawn and stretches her arms.

"Why do I feel so tired?" she groans as she rubs an eye.

"Heh, you'd think she'd had enough sleep for the past several days," speaks up Smokescreen.

"Have I really been out for that long?" Zero yawns again.

"It's likely your body is adjusting itself to having regular Energon in its system instead of Dark Energon," theorizes Ratchet.

"I guess… I'll just take a nap… in the barracks," Zero yawns one last time before disappearing into the deeper parts of the missile silo.

Midnight watches her leave the group and then turns his attention back to the Autobots, his expression changing from that of relief to dark concern.

"The Decepticons… took more from her than we thought," he tells them.

"What do you mean?" asks Arcee worriedly.

"I don't know how Cybertronians work," begins Midnight. "But here on Earth, pretty much every living species is heavily reliant on their females to reproduce and sustain their populations. Humans are no different. You guys speak of family as bonds of friendship and camaraderie, but on Earth, family is more than that. It's the Earthling way of life, a means to pass their genetic material on to a new generation so they can continue to live on in another individual after they pass on."

He clenches his fists tightly in slowly boiling anger.

"The Dark Energon…" Midnight continues. "… took away Zero's ability to reproduce. Any dream she had to start her own family is now impossible."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Ratchet was hard at work trying to figure out the formula for Synth-En and testing it what he could produce on the various machinery he procured. He reaches out for a tool without looking and becomes momentarily surprised when his hand lands on empty surface. He turns to see a familiar Japanese rocker with pigtails make off with the tool in question.

"Miko!" he shouts indignantly. "I needed that!"

"Just give me one minute!" Miko shouts back as she turns around. "It's for the greater good!"

"Miko, your name and the phrase 'greater good' do not belong on the same sentence!" counters Ratchet, following after her.

The Autobot medic lumbers after Miko, catching her dashing into Safe with his much-needed tool. There, he spots Jack and Rafael hanging about in addition to Bulkhead and Bumblebee. But the sight of them wasn't what sent Ratchet reeling in shock upon entering Safe. No, what caused the Autobot medic's optics to burst wide open in alarm was the sight of spilled Energon on the ground; spilled Energon that appears to come from one very disheveled Zero whose clothes were stained with the blue Cybertronian fuel.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE ALLSPARK?" Ratchet nearly screams in horror.

"Don't worry, Ratchet!" Bulkhead immediately tries to calm down Ratchet. "The Energon isn't from Bumblebee or me!"

"That's what I'm more worried about!" Ratchet exclaims anxiously. "Midnight is going to have our respective heads when he sees this! We need to replenish Zero's Energon immediately!"

"Ratchet, please!" Zero shouts up at the Autobot. "I'm fine! It's okay!"

Ratchet leans up against the nearest wall for support and takes a deep breath to cool down his core. The splashes of Energon weren't much in Ratchet's eyes, but compared to the source, it was quite an amount to be coming from such a small body without adverse effects.

"We were just testing Zero's abilities," Jack explains calmly with Bumblebee beeping in affirmation.

"Her abilities?" chokes Ratchet. "What abilities?"

"It seems enhancing her strength wasn't the only internal change that the Dark Energon made on Zero," continues Rafael. "Zero had an accident earlier that caused her to get cut pretty badly, but then we noticed that her body healed up very rapidly. So we decided to test the extent of her new regenerative abilities."

"By cutting her up?" exclaims Ratchet.

"I'm _fine_ ," reiterates Zero in exasperation, showing off her arms. "See? No scars."

"Although she did say it hurts when she gets cut," points out Jack.

"Then why did Miko have to come take my tool?" inquires Ratchet.

"We have this theory," begins Rafael. "That Zero can heal herself rapidly when she's fully energized and healthy. But we wanted to see if her ability to heal herself is hindered if she's tired."

"And I got the idea for her to do some weight-lifting with one of your tools," finishes Miko with enthusiasm. "So she could tire herself out and we can test."

Ratchet shoots a criticizing gaze at Bumblebee and Bulkhead. "And you two _approved_ of this?"

"For science!" replies Bulkhead. "Uh, at least that's what Miko says."

Bumblebee beeps back in a way that suggested that he wasn't totally for the idea.

Ratchet shakes his head. "And what if Zero passes out from loss of Energon?"

"Ratchet, our bodies are always producing blood," assures Rafael. "It's part of our biology. Well, in Zero's case, her body has adapted to constantly replenish any Energon she loses. As long as she's not losing too much of her Energon blood, she's fine."

"Which means she doesn't need to get injected with Energon on a regular basis like we do," adds Bulkhead.

"That's… interesting," exclaims Ratchet, feeling enlightened by the revelation.

"No, Ratchet, I don't produce enough Energon to supply the whole team," Zero crosses her arms humorously with a smirk, fully aware of what's going through the Autobot's mind.

Ratchet stutters in response. " _Preposterous_! I never considered the possibility."

Everyone stares at the medic skeptically.

"I'm still working on making the Synth-En work, thank you very much," he declares in annoyance and takes his tool back from Miko, who exclaims in protest. "As for your little experiments on Zero, I _firmly_ suggest you cease such activities for everyone's sake and clean up this mess. I'm sure Optimus would not approve of this _at all_."

With that said and done, Ratchet marches out of Safe while the others look at each other and shrug.

* * *

"Lord Megatron, I think you should take a look at this."

The Decepticon leader was still steaming from the recent failure to defeat the Autobots when he was approached by Knockout.

"This had better be good," he growls at the medic. "I'm not interested in wasting my time on any frivolous pursuits."

"Oh, this is anything but frivolous, I assure you," chuckles Knockout as he leads Megatron to the Nemesis' sick bay.

Megatron looks at the sick bay computer, which was displaying information that he was not quick to recognize. "What is this?"

"This," begins Knockout. "Is the data readings I acquired on that human Zero when she was last in our possession."

"And why would this information be of use to me?" sneers Megatron.

"According to this data, humans have the ability to constantly replenish their blood within their own bodies," explains the Decepticon medic. "Since Zero's blood was replaced with the refined Dark Energon…"

"She's able to produce a constant supply of Dark Energon," concludes Megatron, suddenly feeling intrigued.

"I'm pretty sure at this point, the Autobots have gotten the Dark Energon flushed out of that girl's system," suggests Knockout. "However, if they replaced the Dark Energon with normal Energon, her body would still be modified to produce Energon regardless."

"Are you suggesting we could somehow replicate that human ability to produce blood in order to not be reliant on mining to procure Energon?" asks Megatron.

"It's possible," begins Knockout. " _If_ we could get the girl in our possession again. Certainly would be a suitable alternative if we can't get this synthesized Energon figured out."

"Her increase in size makes her an anomaly to other humans," articulates Megatron. "Which means she's even less likely to be out in the open for us to catch."

"The Autobots can't keep her cooped up in their secret base forever," expresses Knockout confidently. "Sooner or later, she'll be wandering outside somewhere and we'll get our opportunity."

* * *

 **A/N:** Somehow it doesn't really feel like a proper _Transformers Prime_ fic unless Ratchet is yelling about needing something at least once.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The next day, Ratchet was furiously tinkering away on a new project. Just as he finishes the last touches, Midnight and Zero come across him in the GroundBridge console room.

"What are you up to, Ratchet?" asks Zero curiously as she sat upon Midnight's shoulder.

Ratchet looks over his shoulder at them. "I presume you didn't tell Midnight about your little experiments?"

"What's he talking about?" Midnight glances at his human charge disapprovingly.

"Jack, Miko, and Raf found out I could heal myself very quickly after I had a little accident in the Safe," Zero shrugs her shoulders. "Ratchet just overreacted because I spilled some of my Energon blood in the process."

"Heh, some!" scoffs Ratchet, rolling his optics. "You could've killed yourself with the amount of Energon you lost!"

"Is this true?" inquires Midnight, raising an eyebrow.

Zero raises her arms. "Do you see any permanent scarring? I'm perfectly fine."

"And we'd rather keep it that way," Ratchet declares and turns around to present the two of them a pile of what looked like pieces of armor.

"What's that?" asks Zero. "Looks like you're putting together a model kit."

"Not quite…" responds Ratchet dumbfounded with no clue what the young woman was talking about. "It's an armor set based on Cybertronian designs."

"Is that supposed to be for me?" Zero tilts her head in curiosity.

"Do you see any other 7-foot humans in the vicinity?" Ratchet replies sarcastically as he sets the pieces down on a worktable.

"But why?" Zero continues her inquiry with crossed arms.

"Well, first off, Jack informed me that humans don't quite make clothes for your size," begins Ratchet. "Which would explain why you insist on wearing your now tiny clothes despite them not fitting anymore."

Zero looks down at her tight t-shirt, pants, and shoes. "I guess…"

"And…" continues the Autobot medic. "I'd rather not see you injure yourself any more than necessary, so the armor is meant to protect you as well. Since you're more Cybertronian now with your Energon blood, you might as well start looking the part."

"But I can't transform," Zero points out.

"That's beside the point!" Ratchet waves his hand in exasperation.

Midnight transfers Zero to the workstation from his shoulder. "I guess you might as well start wearing it now since your clothes are near the end of their usability."

Zero goes over to pick up a piece of armor, but stops and looks up at the two bots as if to wait for something.

"Oh, right," Midnight rubs the back of his head in embarrassment and turns around.

"I don't follow," responds Ratchet in confusion.

With a sigh, Midnight grabs Ratchet by the shoulders and spins him around to face away from Zero. "Humans don't like being stared at when they change clothes."

"What a silly notion!" scoffs the Autobot medic, crossing his arms. "You don't see us being embarrassed when we transform into our alt modes."

"That's… nothing like this," Midnight expresses impassively.

"All done!"

The two of them turn around to see Zero all decked out in her Cybertronian armor from head to toe.

"How is it?" wonders Ratchet. "I tried to make it fit to your unique specifications, yet allow for some growth if something happens."

Zero walks around on the worktable, testing out the flexibility of the armor by throwing some punches and kicks. "Feels okay to me. And you matched the color scheme with Midnight's."

"I also took the liberty of implementing slots for you to store your swords," adds Ratchet. "There's also hidden blades that you can activate with your gloves. I didn't bother implementing any guns since I had no idea how to even begin to design it to use your Energon blood."

"I doubt any gun you give me would do much at my size," chuckles Zero, releasing and retracting her hidden blades. "I'd annoy the Decepticons more than damage them."

Midnight smirks in amusement. "So you're pretty much a walking Swiss army knife."

"A Swiss army knife that will cut you up!" Zero takes out one of her ox-tail sabers and points it at Midnight showily.

Just then, the other Autobots enter the room and notice Zero in her new armor.

"Aww, you look like a Minicon!" exclaims Bulkhead.

"What?" Zero tilts her head in confusion.

"Now you know how we feel when you and Midnight make Earth-based jokes," banters Arcee.

A thought comes to Zero's mind and she turns back to Ratchet. "You do realize Miko is going to be super jealous when she sees me, right?"

"I am not making a set for Miko or anyone else," asserts Ratchet. "Those kids are already a handful as is. They don't need armor to get themselves into even more trouble than they already do."

Bumblebee beeps in agreement.

Suddenly, the lighthearted mood in the room darkens when Optimus approaches Zero with a serious expression on his face.

"Is something the matter, Optimus?" wonders Zero hesitantly.

"Ratchet informed me about some new… development," Optimus answers forebodingly.

Midnight stiffens at the sound of that. "That doesn't have anything to do with us, does it?"

The Optimus falls silent for a moment, unsure of how to continue without upsetting them.

"I told Optimus about your newfound ability to produce Energon," Ratchet looks over at Zero nervously.

"This is a serious issue," asserts Optimus. "If the Decepticons find out about this, Zero will become a primary target for them."

"But they don't, so everything is fine," counters Midnight.

"We can't be sure about that," argues Smokescreen. "Decepticons are just as good at finding out information as we are. And they're much better equipped for surveillance and intercepting communications."

"Not to mention they did have Zero in their possession for some time," points out Arcee. "Who knows what they could've found out about her."

"So what then?" exclaims Midnight, feeling frustrated. "We stay cooped up in here until your war ends?"

"It's for your guys' safety," assures Bulkhead. "If the Decepticons get their hands on you, they'll want to bargain for Zero. We can't risk either of you leaving here for any amount of time."

"As much as you guys have done a lot to help Zero and me out, I can't help but feel that at the same time, we seem to be in worse straits after going along with you," Midnight clenches his fists. "If we didn't go with you, Zero and I wouldn't have gotten infected with Dark Energon and Zero would still be human."

"Mid," exclaims Zero. "That's not—"

"It's true, isn't it?" Midnight interrupts her. "We were just fine doing our own thing and then we come across this war and now the worst enemies we could ever make have us in their crosshairs!"

"I understand you feel very discouraged right now," Optimus says calmly, sensing the tension in the bot's voice.

"No, you don't understand!" Midnight argues back. "We're not Cybertronians, we're Earthlings! We had enough to deal with when it comes to Earth matters and you guys come in here and drag us into a war we have no place in!"

"Hey, that's not fair!" Arcee gets up close and personal with Midnight angrily. "You think we wanted to bring our war to this planet? Or any other planet for that matter? If we had the choice, this war would remain on Cybertron until its last days, but unfortunately containing the war on our planet was out of our control."

"And what _do_ you guys have in your control?" counters Midnight. "Besides human kids and relics from your homeworld, neither of which you can even protect properly."

"THAT'S ENOUGH, MIDNIGHT!" Zero orders him loudly.

Midnight stops his reproach of the Autobots, but it's clear from the look on his face that he was far from done with his criticisms.

Zero turns to the Autobot medic. "Ratchet, could you please set a GroundBridge for some coordinates in California?"

"Did you not hear what we've been saying?" rehashes Ratchet. "You and Midnight could be targeted by the Decepticons. You can't risk yourselves by leaving the base."

"We just… need some time to clear our heads," asserts Zero. "We'll be careful, I promise."

Ratchet looks to Optimus to see what he thinks. The Autobot leader gazes over the two Earthlings and makes a decision.

"Ratchet, ready the GroundBridge," he orders firmly.

"Optimus, are you sure about this?" asks Arcee.

"Zero and Midnight are neither Autobots, nor are they our prisoners," affirms Optimus. "We have no right to tell them what to do."

Ratchet lets out a sigh and goes over to the GroundBridge console to start it up. Once the portal opens, Midnight marches through without a second thought. Zero follows after him, but stops to take one last look at the Autobots before going through as well.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

The GroundBridge portal opens up into a sparse forest in the midst of the Sierra Nevada. Stepping out into the breathtaking scenery, Midnight and Zero allow themselves a moment of silence to take in everything that has happened to them. Midnight watches as Zero quietly saunters over to a nearby stream and sits down on a rock. Unsure of himself, he follows after her and sits down near her. Unbeknownst to them, Laserbeak happens to spot them and turns around to alert his master.

"Kind of reminds you of the times we spent just driving around," Midnight tries to start up some small talk.

Zero simply fidgets with her Cybertronian armor as she stares into the stream.

Midnight closes his optics and sighs. "I know you don't agree with what I said back there, but it had to be said. It's ridiculous for us to have to wait for their war to be over when they've been fighting it for hundreds of years."

He gazes into the stream and sees a reflection of sadness in Zero's Energon eyes behind her helm's visor.

"I know you're sad about not being able to have kids anymore," Midnight comforts her. "You can cry; it's just us here."

Without warning, a tear emerges from Zero's eye. She retracts her visor and tries to wipe it off, but it stains her gloved hand with Energon.

"Heh," sighs the young woman, gazing at her Energon tears. "Not only do I bleed Energon, I cry it, too."

Midnight falls silent upon hearing that as he could feel the sorrow emanating from Zero herself. "We'll find a way to get you back to normal. I'm sure of it."

Zero pulls her knees close to her chest and weeps into it. Feeling rather useless at being able to properly comfort her, Midnight could only stroke her back with a finger.

"I promise, they won't take anything else away from us," he declares strongly. "I'll do everything I can to make sure of it."

After Zero cries her heart out, she uses the stream to wash away the Energon that stained her face. Letting out a long sigh, she stands up and turns to look up at Midnight.

"Feel better?" she asks him with reddened eyes.

"I should be asking you that," counters Midnight with a smile.

"Well, you're the one who's not okay with the Autobots," articulates Zero. "And we really need to go back to their base."

Midnight averts his optics and sighs in discomfiture.

"I guess…" he reluctantly admits.

Before Midnight could initiate his comlink, he's knocked forward by an explosion.

"Mid!" exclaims Zero.

Groaning, Midnight quickly grabs Zero and takes cover behind a large boulder. He peeks over the side and sees several aircraft Vehicons land. Initiating his gun cannons, Midnight begins firing at them and they return fire.

"Ratchet, we've got trouble!" Zero shouts into her helm's comlink as the land around them fell to pieces from Energon blasts.

She didn't have time to listen for a response as a Vehicon comes upon them and tries to take a swipe at her. Reactivating her visor and face mask, Zero takes out one of her swords and leaps at the Vehicon. She slashes right into its torso, disabling it immediately. Soon after, an Energon blasts hits her right in the chest, sending her flying back into the grass.

"Zero!" Midnight calls to her.

He tries to get to her, but was covered by too much fire to move from his position. He looks over to where the Vehicons were approaching to see a familiar red sports car appear and transform.

"Careful, you idiots!" shouts Knockout. "Megatron wants her alive!"

Filled with rage, Midnight rushes at the Decepticon with arm blades out and takes a swipe at him. Surprised, Knockout barely avoids the sudden attack before he attacks back with an Energon blast. Despite that, Midnight is able to get a punch in and then proceeds to beat down the Decepticon with everything he had. Before he could deliver a devastating blow, Knockout manages to grab his arm and tosses him into the side of the mountains.

Meanwhile, a GroundBridge opens up and out came Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead with guns blazing. Unfortunately, they were too late as one of the Vehicons captures Zero in a glass capsule while she was still reeling from the Energon blast. Unable to break free, Zero calls to Midnight just as the Decepticons' own GroundBridge opens up for them. Arcee and Bumblebee try to run in after them, but the portal closes just as they got to it.

"Zero!" groans Midnight.

* * *

Back on the Nemesis, Knockout presents the glass capsule to Megatron, who laughs in delight upon seeing a familiar human residing within.

"Welcome back to the Nemesis, Zero," the Decepticon leader sneers. "And I see you look a little more Autobot since I last saw you."

Zero tries to punch through the glass, but her strength still hasn't returned fully yet after getting hit by the Energon blast. Instead her fist hits the glass softly, which amuses Megatron.

"Might as well give up," he tells her. "Even if you manage to break out, you're on a Decepticon warship and surrounded by my guards. There's no escape for you this time."

"What do you want with me?" demands the young woman after retracting her face mask. "I don't have Dark Energon in my body anymore. I'm useless to you."

"On the contrary," begins Megatron. "My medic tells me you have a very interesting ability. The ability to continuously produce your own supply of Energon within your body."

"My body doesn't produce nearly as much Energon as you need," scoffs Zero. "You're wasting your time."

"You don't think I actually need you to produce Energon?" snickers Megatron. "No, my dear. What we want is to study you so that we can replicate your ability on our own. Imagine how much of an advantage we'd have if we could turn our bodies into walking Energon factories. We'd never have to mine for Energon ever again, and we'd be able to allocate our mining forces to better use."

"Your Cybertronian bodies are vastly different from those of Earth," counters Zero. "You'll never be able to replicate it in any way."

"You underestimate our ability to engineer anything we need," replies Megatron. "We created the cybonic plague as well as Tox-En. Given enough time, we'll surely replicate your Energon-producing abilities."

Megatron looks over at Knockout. "Get started and report to me any promising results."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Back at the Autobot base, Midnight took out his frustrations in Safe, smashing and blasting anything he could get his hands on. The others look on helplessly, unable to find the words to quell his anger.

"This is the third time we've lost her," sighs Bulkhead. "Kind of a bad record, don't you think?"

"This time, I don't think Megatron is going to make it as easy for us to get her back," Ratchet surmises somberly. "He's likely going to put her under lock, key, and tons of security."

"Which means he'll put her with the Iacon relics he's got," concludes Smokescreen. "If we can get a reading on her location, we can swipe it all at once."

" _If_ we can get a reading on her," points out Arcee. "She was knocked out by an Energon blast. It'll be a while before she contacts us, if it's even safe for her to do so."

Ratchet goes over to the GroundBridge console where Optimus was busy deciphering the Iacon archives. The Autobot leader said nothing as Ratchet walks up to him.

"It's not your fault, Optimus," assures the medic. "You were right, Midnight and Zero were neither Autobot nor our prisoners. We had no right to keep them here against their wishes."

"Yet…" utters Optimus, his optics still on the computer. "If I had kept them here, then Zero…"

"You would've never approved of us dissecting her to research her Energon-producing abilities," asserts Ratchet. "And rightly so."

"I just wish it didn't have to be this way," sighs Optimus.

Arcee joins up with them just as their computer picks up a signal.

"Zero?" she exclaims in inquiry.

"But it's on a different frequency," analyzes Ratchet. "It's gotta be her, though. The signal is moving. Who else would signal us except for possibly Wheeljack?"

"Arcee, get the phase shifter," Optimus orders quietly. "Ratchet, set up the GroundBridge."

"Am I the only one going?" questions the female Autobot.

"We need to be sure before we send in everyone," explains Optimus. "We need to do this discreetly. We cannot afford another failure."

After getting the phase shifter on her wrist, Arcee prepares herself to enter the GroundBridge.

"If you find the Iacon relics along with Zero, ignore them," orders Optimus. "Zero takes priority right now. We can get the relics later."

Nodding in affirmation, Arcee enters the portal and finds herself on board the Nemesis. Glad for the change of luck, she goes in search of Zero and tracks down the vault. Phasing herself inside, she not only found the Iacon relics, but Zero as well. Elated to see the young woman, Arcee sneaks up to the glass cylinder that contained her.

"Zero, are you allright?" she asks her.

"I'm fine, Arcee," responds Zero. "For now, anyways."

"Have they done anything to you?"

"Not yet."

Thankful for the ongoing stroke of luck, Arcee prepares to grab the cylinder until Zero stops her.

"Don't!" warns the young woman, shooting her hands up. "Megatron set this to explode if it's moved in any way."

"Scrap," curses Arcee. "He'd go as far as kill you to keep you away from us."

"Arcee, listen," pleads Zero. "I didn't contact you guys to rescue me."

"What?" exclaims Arcee. "But everyone's waiting for me to confirm your location."

"Midnight, he's… he's been too reliant on me," begins Zero. "I can't go back to him. I'm more of a hindrance to him than anything."

"Zero, that's not true," assures Arcee. "He cares about you very much."

"Then… he needs to let me go," articulates Zero as she takes out a folded piece of paper and shows it to Arcee. "Please, take this note to him for me. And tell the others to forget about me."

"I'm not going to leave you here after coming all this way," insists Arcee.

"You have to," emphasizes Zero. "For Midnight's sake."

"And what about you?"

"I have a way to keep Megatron from using me for his own ends."

Arcee was confused at first, until she realizes what Zero was planning to do. Activating the phase shifter, she reluctantly phases through the cylinder to take the note from the young woman.

"… Are you sure about this?" asks Arcee.

Zero falls quiet for a moment. "Yes…"

Arcee has a hard time coming to terms with the young woman's decision. "I wish we had more time to get to know each other better."

"I know," Zero responds somberly.

"I'll distract the guards on the way out," says Arcee.

"Thank you, Arcee," Zero manages a smile as she places a gloved hand on the cylinder's glass wall.

* * *

Arcee arrives back inside the missile silo to the hopeful faces of Ratchet and Optimus.

"Was it her?" inquires Ratchet anxiously.

Before Arcee could respond, the others came into the GroundBridge room with Midnight following behind. She could only stare at Midnight as she struggles to convey the message that she's about to reveal.

"Arcee, you look like you're about to fall apart," points out Bulkhead.

"I just came back from the Nemesis," she answers passively.

"What?" exclaims Midnight, pushing himself towards the female Autobot. "Did you find Zero? Was she on the ship?"

"We should GroundBridge to it ASAP!" asserts Smokescreen.

"Stop!" Arcee shouts at them, causing everyone in the room to fall quiet. Hesitantly, she turns to face them all as she clenches her fists. "Zero… does not want us to rescue her."

"But why?" wonders Bulkhead. "Did she join the Decepticons after all?"

"No, she has a plan to keep the Decepticons from studying her," explains Arcee. "But that means keeping herself from being in possession of either side."

Everyone was taken aback by the response.

"She's not thinking about…" voices Bulkhead. "Is she?"

Arcee hangs her head, giving the Wrecker the answer he didn't want to know. She walks over to Midnight and takes his hand to give him Zero's note.

"She said that she wanted you to learn to live without her," she tells him. "That was her last wish for you."

Midnight silently accepts the note and looks down at it somberly.

"This isn't right," presses Smokescreen. "We should go to her right now and bring her back!"

"Smokescreen, this is Zero's choice… and we should respect it," declares Optimus. "As much as we don't want to accept it."

"She knows that coming back here would just start a tug of war between us and the Decepticons over her," articulates Ratchet. "In her heart, she must feel this is the best way to resolve this issue."

Midnight says nothing as he turns to leave.

* * *

 _Midnight,_

 _We've been through a lot together. Ever since you got that new body of yours, I noticed you were becoming increasingly protective of me. Although I appreciate the sentiment, this is not the way you should be living. It is my hope that someday you'll find your own way… without me._

 _I'm sorry if I haven't been treating you well these past few days. The both of us have gone through a lot of changes. For better and worse. This is not a goodbye, but a hello to a brighter future._

 _I hope to see us crossing paths someday. Maybe we can go to Cybertron together._

 _\- Zero_

* * *

Back on the Nemesis, Zero was hard at work tiring herself out. Once she felt exhausted enough, she takes out her sword and cuts her arm. Hissing from the pain, she looks down and sees that her wound was not closing up quickly like it did before. Satisfied with the result, Zero tests out the hidden blade that Ratchet had built into her Cybertronian armor, shooting it out and retracting it.

With a sigh, Zero stands up straight and stares down into the empty space of the vault. Nervously, she takes one arm and positions the blade opening into her torso. She could feel her arm shaking at the prospect of what she was about to do and uses her other hand to steady it. Keeping her gaze forward with her chin held high, she closes her eyes and shoots out the blade. A sharp pain hits her hard and Zero falls forward on her knees as the blade penetrates her torso and causes Energon to leak out of her. Yanking out the blade, Zero starts coughing up more Energon and falls to her side. Her vision starts to blur as Energon continues to bleed out of her. She finally closes her eyes and sees a memory of her driving normal car Midnight around in the California afternoon.

 **The End**


	19. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Knockout ran up to Megaton with a frantic expression on his face.

"Lord Megatron!" he exclaims in a panic. "The girl! She—!"

Megatron didn't need to hear any more as he races off towards the Nemesis vault where the Iacon relics and Zero's capsule were kept. Upon bursting into the chamber, he was shocked at the sight of an unconscious Zero lying in a pool of her Energon blood.

"No!" he screeches. He turns to Knockout. "Can you save her?"

"I'm not familiar enough with their biology…" Knockout answers gingerly.

"Then what are you standing there for?" Megatron roars at the medic. "Put her in stasis before it's too late!"

"Yes, Lord Megatron!" affirms Knockout, sending a Vehicon to go locate an available stasis pod.

"Foolish girl!" Megatron turns his attention back to the capsule. "She thinks she could escape my grasp by terminating herself."

"What now, Lord Megatron?" inquires Knockout nervously. "Without her in full health, we can't continue the research on her."

"Focus on perfecting the synthetic Energon formula for now," orders the Decepticon leader. "Once we have someone who is able to heal humans, we'll go back to researching her. Her unique ability is too valuable to us; I won't allow her to deny us of it."

* * *

Standing over the missile silo, Midnight gazes into the horizon as the sun set over the Nevada landscape. He hears someone approaching him from behind, but makes no move to turn around.

"Mid," greets Arcee, stepping up beside him.

"Arcee," Midnight greets back.

They were then joined by Bumblebee, Smokescreen, and Bulkhead. The five of them stood there for several minutes as the sun dips down to make way for night.

"She wrote this note when she was still at the base," says Midnight. "She had been thinking about leaving me long before the Decepticons took her."

"So what are you going to do now?" asks Bulkhead.

"I'm… not sure," answers Midnight.

"You know, there's always a place for you here with the Autobots," reminds Smokescreen. "If you change your mind."

"I think I'll choose to remain emblem-less," affirms Midnight. "I don't want to align with the Autobots as a whole, but I'll remain your guys' ally against the Decepticons."

"Better than nothing, I suppose," responds Arcee.

"I guess this is where we part ways," declares Midnight, turning to walk away.

"Wait, you're leaving us, too?" exclaims Smokescreen in surprise.

"I have no reason to remain here as I'm not an Autobot," replies Midnight. "I have some… spark-searching to do."

"If you ever need us, we're just a comlink away," assures Bulkhead with Bumblebee beeping in agreement.

"Thank you, everyone," nods Midnight. "For everything."

With that, Midnight walks off to begin his journey. Alone.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yes, this is really the end of _Shelter_. Definitely not a fan of the butchered third season we got for _Transformers Prime_ , so not really interested in developing a sequel of _Shelter_ to fit into that. I might reconsider if Hasbro goes back and produces the originally planned third season, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Thanks for reading!


End file.
